Scheme using children to fund terrorism uncovered

Make sure to let us know what you think... we now have comments turned ON below the article!

It has long been known that various terrorist groups devise schemes to obtain funds for their activity that sometimes seem legitimate and other times involve fraud.

A recent investigative report by journalists in Minnesota uncovered a scheme involving daycare centers that defrauded the U.S. government of millions of dollars that likely were funneled to al-Shabaab terrorists in Somalia.

According to Conservative Review, the scheme was first uncovered five years ago when local Minneapolis media outlet Fox 9 revealed how daycare centers were fraudulently obtaining government subsidies to care for children who often were never actually cared for in the centers.

The scheme was fairly widespread and may have cost the state upwards of $100 million per year.

At least 10 daycare centers are currently under investigation for involvement in the fraud, and others are suspected of participating as well.

Once the subsidy money was received by the centers, and after participants and parents were given small kickbacks, the cash was bundled in $1 million increments and flown out of the country in suitcases on a near-weekly basis.

That money would eventually end up in areas of Somalia controlled by the al-Shabaab terrorist group, formerly affiliated with Al Qaeda but more recently aligned with the Islamic State group.

The funds were typically funneled through what are known as “Hawalas,” described by Fox 9 as “businesses used to courier money to countries that have no official banking system.”

A retired Seattle police detective named Glen Kerns, who worked with a federal terrorism task force for 15 years, tracked some of the money from the U.S. to Somalia and discovered where it ended up under al-Shabaab control himself.

He stated that it was “absolutely” likely that at least some of the funds were used to finance illicit terrorism operations, based on information obtained from “good sources, from the community leaders” he spoke with during his investigation.

[show_poll poll_id=189]

“My personal opinion is we need a nationwide task force to clamp down on this type of fraud,” stated Kerns.

We couldn’t agree more, and suspect this and other types of terrorism-financing fraud aren’t confined solely to Minnesota, but are taking place all across the country.

216 Responses

  1. When I originally commented I clicked the -Notify me when new surveys are added- checkbox and from now on whenever a comment is added I am four emails using the same comment. Will there be however you may remove me from that service? Thanks!

  2. Aw, this is a really nice post. In notion I would like to invest writing like this moreover – taking time and actual effort to create a top notch article… but what can I say… I procrastinate alot through no indicates apparently go done.

  3. I have mastered some new points from your website about pcs. Another thing I’ve always considered is that laptop computers have become a specific thing that each household must have for most reasons. They supply you with convenient ways in which to organize the home, pay bills, search for information, study, focus on music and even watch tv series. An innovative approach to complete most of these tasks is a notebook computer. These pc’s are mobile, small, effective and lightweight.

  4. After I initially commented I clicked the -Notify me when new comments are added- checkbox and now every time a remark is added I get four emails with the identical comment. Is there any manner you can take away me from that service? Thanks!

  5. Good day! This is kind of off topic but I need some help from an established blog. Is it very difficult to set up your own blog? I’m not very techincal but I can figure things out pretty quick. I’m thinking about creating my own but I’m not sure where to begin. Do you have any tips or suggestions? Thanks

  6. Get help to stop drinking. Helping women quit drinking alcohol. Coach Mary Wagstaff. Feel better, mind, body and soul. Mindfulness based coaching and alcohol recovery. Yoga for recovery.

  7. Thanks so much for giving everyone a very memorable chance to discover important secrets from here. It is usually very beneficial and full of a lot of fun for me and my office acquaintances to visit your site at least three times in a week to learn the latest issues you have got. And of course, I’m so usually contented with the surprising knowledge you serve. Selected 1 facts in this post are unequivocally the finest I’ve had.

  8. Thanks for the sensible critique. Me and my neighbor were just preparing to do some research on this. We got a grab a book from our area library but I think I learned more clear from this post. I am very glad to see such excellent info being shared freely out there.

  9. I have not checked in here for a while because I thought it was getting boring, but the last few posts are good quality so I guess I¡¦ll add you back to my everyday bloglist. You deserve it my friend 🙂

  10. you’re truly a good webmaster. The website loading speed is amazing. It seems that you’re doing any distinctive trick. Furthermore, The contents are masterwork. you have performed a wonderful job on this topic!

  11. Do you mind if I quote a few of your posts as long as I provide credit and sources back to your weblog? My blog is in the very same area of interest as yours and my visitors would certainly benefit from some of the information you present here. Please let me know if this alright with you. Regards!

  12. I am really loving the theme/design of your web site. Do you ever run into any internet browser compatibility problems? A few of my blog readers have complained about my blog not operating correctly in Explorer but looks great in Chrome. Do you have any tips to help fix this issue?

  13. Hello just wanted to give you a quick heads up. The words in your content seem to be running off the screen in Internet explorer. I’m not sure if this is a format issue or something to do with internet browser compatibility but I thought I’d post to let you know. The design look great though! Hope you get the issue resolved soon. Kudos

  14. Hey! I know this is somewhat off topic but I was wondering if you knew where I could get a captcha plugin for my comment form? I’m using the same blog platform as yours and I’m having problems finding one? Thanks a lot!

  15. Good website! I truly love how it is easy on my eyes and the data are well written. I’m wondering how I might be notified when a new post has been made. I have subscribed to your feed which must do the trick! Have a nice day!

  16. Hello, i think that i saw you visited my site thus i came to “return the favor”.I am trying to find things to enhance my web site!I suppose its ok to use a few of your ideas!!

  17. I’m really loving the theme/design of your website. Do you ever run into any web browser compatibility problems? A small number of my blog audience have complained about my site not operating correctly in Explorer but looks great in Firefox. Do you have any recommendations to help fix this issue?

  18. I enjoy you because of all of your efforts on this website. My mum takes pleasure in managing investigation and it’s simple to grasp why. All of us hear all relating to the powerful means you render powerful information by means of your website and as well as encourage contribution from some others about this subject matter so our own girl is learning a lot. Take advantage of the remaining portion of the new year. You’re the one performing a very good job.

  19. After study a couple of of the blog posts in your web site now, and I really like your manner of blogging. I bookmarked it to my bookmark website list and shall be checking again soon. Pls take a look at my web site as effectively and let me know what you think.

  20. Pretty nice post. I just stumbled upon your blog and wanted to mention that I’ve truly loved surfing around your weblog posts. In any case I’ll be subscribing for your rss feed and I hope you write once more soon!

  21. It is appropriate time to make some plans for the future and it is time to be happy. I’ve read this post and if I could I want to suggest you some interesting things or advice. Maybe you can write next articles referring to this article. I want to read more things about it!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Popular