RELEASE: REP. HILL AWARDS GOVERNOR TIM WALZ THE GOLDEN FLEECE FOR FAILING TO PREVENT BILLIONS IN TAXPAYER FRAUD

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, Rep. French Hill (AR-02) announced Governor Tim Walz and his administration as the latest recipients of his Golden Fleece Award following the uncovering of massive fraud across taxpayer-funded programs in Minnesota.

Federal prosecutors estimate that roughly $9 billion in taxpayer dollars was stolen through schemes involving nutrition assistance, Medicaid services, and other federally funded programs intended to support vulnerable Americans. The fraud included the Feeding Our Future scheme and related cases, which have resulted in at least 78 federal arrests to date and exposed widespread abuse of public funds that were entrusted to the state for administration and oversight.

Rep. Hill said, "The stories of massive fraud coming out of Minnesota are outrageous, made worse by the fact that the funds were meant for children and our most vulnerable citizens. Federal prosecutors now estimate the total fraud could reach roughly $9 billion, likely just the tip of the iceberg, which is why I applaud President Trump's efforts to go after fraud and abuse across the country. Taxpayers in Arkansas and across the nation expect and deserve to know their money is being watched and used the way it was intended, and Governor Walz needs to spend the remaining time he has left in office cleaning up the mess made under his watch."

In his letter to Governor Tim Walz, Rep. Hill writes:

Dear Governor Walz,

I write today to inform you that you and your Administration are this month's recipients of my Golden Fleece Award.

Let me be clear, I fully recognize that recent events in Minneapolis have impacted Minnesota and the nation. It is a tragedy whenever someone loses their life. For that reason, I support Congress providing appropriate oversight into events in Minnesota, including the shooting deaths of Renee Goode and Alex Pretti.

That said, I am writing to address a separate matter that predates both of those events and is nonetheless worthy of attention and, indeed, resolution. The uncovering of massive fraud in recent months has highlighted the pervasive, almost systemic, theft that has occurred in the State of Minnesota. Federal prosecutors are now estimating that the level of this brazen abuse is approximately $9 billion.

Welfare programs, including those for childcare, nutrition, and health care, are a promise to those who truly need assistance. Those who would steal from children and others via fraudulent application or direction of funds deserve to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. I am, therefore, happy to hear that the Department of Justice is working to ensure that those responsible are discovered and prosecuted.

The discovery of this massive fraud began with the investigation of Feeding Our Future, a program that purported to use the Federal Child Nutrition Program to serve meals to over 6,000 school children every day. In reality, most of this money was funneled to the organizers of Feeding Our Future instead of the children they claimed to serve. In November 2025, the United States Attorney's Office announced its 78^th arrest in this scheme, which frankly, encompasses an ecosystem of organizations like Brilliant Minds Services LLC, Faladcare Inc, Leo Human Services LLC, and Liberty Plus LLC.

Even earlier, in September, the U.S. Attorney charged several people with defrauding Medicaid of money earmarked to help people find and keep stable housing arrangements. The perpetrators of the scheme, as in the case of Feeding Our Future, claimed to provide services and payments under the program but never actually delivered or did so at inflated cost. Such criminal theft is best summarized by one of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Special Agents who helped uncover the various schemes. Special Agent in Charge, Alvin M. Winston Sr. of the FBI Minneapolis Station said, "Exploiting this program undermines the financial and physical security of the community amid a housing and addiction crisis."

Finally, and perhaps most egregiously, federal prosecutors discovered that Smart Therapy, a company owned by individuals who were also involved in Feeding Our Future, fraudulently claimed to provide Applied Behavior Analysis therapy (ABA therapy) under the Early Intensive Developmental and Behavioral Intervention program, a benefit of Minnesota's Medicaid program. ABA therapy is administered to children on the autism spectrum to improve their social skills. Under the scheme, services, including ABA therapy, were claimed but not performed, their cost inflated, or were provided by unqualified individuals. In some cases, families were even offered kickbacks to enroll their children. Clearly, Minnesota is in need of greater oversight of how it conducts and programs efforts paid for with federal dollars.

The fraud that happened under your watch is concerning. Federal taxpayers, through Congress, gave funds to Minnesota to carry out myriad programs designed to help vulnerable individuals. Your administration provided minimal oversight, which resulted in these dollars being stolen. In essence, I worry that your inaction has caused, even encouraged, these criminals to steal from hardworking Americans, including hardworking Arkansans.

Should you need additional authority from Congress to identify and eliminate further fraud, I urge you to notify me. I would also welcome any technical assistance you can provide to help us correct statutory issues that may have contributed to this costly failure.

Sincerely,

French Hill

Member of Congress

CC: The Honorable Keith Ellison, Attorney General of Minnesota