❓WHAT HAPPENED: Senator Jim Banks (R-IN) introduced a bill aimed at preventing taxpayer funds from being accessed by entities controlled by agents of nations covered by President Donald J. Trump’s travel ban, including Somalia.

👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: Sen. Jim Banks, Somali officials, and U.S. taxpayers affected by fraud schemes.

📍WHEN & WHERE: The bill was introduced on Thursday, following revelations of fraud in Minnesota and Ohio.

💬KEY QUOTE: “The Somali fraud scandal has revealed how broken the system is. Foreign officials were able to take advantage of American taxpayers. This bill stops it and puts Americans first.” – Sen. Jim Banks

🎯IMPACT: The bill seeks to block taxpayer funding from being exploited by foreign agents tied to unreliable or hostile governments.

Senator Jim Banks (R-IN) has introduced legislation to prevent foreign officials tied to high-risk countries from exploiting U.S. taxpayer funds, following a series of fraud cases linked to Somali government figures and Somali-run organizations operating in the United States. The proposal, titled the “No Funding for Foreign Agents Act,” would bar entities owned or controlled by agents of countries covered by President Donald J. Trump’s travel ban, including Somalia, from receiving federal grants, contracts, or other forms of taxpayer-funded assistance.

The restrictions would apply to individuals registered under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), as well as diplomats and lobbyists representing those governments. Banks said the legislation was prompted by revelations that senior Somali officials have held ownership stakes in, or operated, U.S.-based organizations funded by American taxpayers that were later implicated in fraudulent schemes. “The Somali fraud scandal has revealed how broken the system is,” Banks said. “Foreign officials were able to take advantage of American taxpayers. This bill stops it and puts Americans first.”

Federal and state investigations have focused heavily on Minnesota, which hosts the largest Somali community in the U.S. Prosecutors say large-scale fraud has occurred across multiple public assistance programs in the state, and authorities estimate that Somali-linked fraud could exceed $9 billion once all affected programs are fully reviewed. The schemes have involved Medicaid, pandemic-era nutrition programs, and COVID relief loans, among others.

Attorney General Pam Bondi recently confirmed that 85 suspects of Somali descent have been charged in Minnesota fraud cases, with approximately 60 convictions to date. Some of the cases have drawn scrutiny because of alleged connections between U.S.-based organizations and Somali political figures, including Abukar Dahir Osman, Somalia’s permanent representative to the United Nations, who has been linked to entities implicated in fraud.

Banks’s bill was introduced as Vice President J.D. Vance announced the creation of a new Assistant Attorney General position under Bondi to focus specifically on fraud investigations and prosecutions.

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