Minnesota auditor confirms Tim Walz’s DHS fabricated records, did not verify grant recipients of over $425 million – enabling massive fraud – then tried to cover their tracks
A Minnesota auditor has confirmed that Tim Walz’s DHS fabricated records, did not verify grant recipients of over $425 million – enabling massive fraud – then tried to cover their tracks
The audit investigated the handling of more than $425 million in grants given out to 830 recipients (590 being NGOs) between July 2022 and December 2024 for mental health and addiction programs.
Critics are now pointing to the multiple fraud schemes that have taken place under Tim Walz’s leadership including Medicaid, Housing, Autism, Food programs, Child care centers, adult day care centers and now mental health and substance abuse programs.
Auditors concluded that DHS “did not comply with most requirements we tested and did not have adequate internal controls over grant funds,” and repeated prior warnings from 2021 and 2024 audits that pointed out the same negligence.
This pattern of repeated fraud under Walz’s watch has conservatives accusing Walz of either creating a culture of unaccountability in state government or being part of the fraud making him criminally liable.
Here are some facts from the Audit:
Millions of dollars were sent out the door in grants without making proper checks into who was receiving them.
The auditors found a grantee that was paid $672,000 for one month of work without any information on what type of work they were doing or if it was even done
The grant manager who paid that money, left DHS a couple days later and became a paid consultant for that company.
During the audit multiple DHS managers tried to cover their tracks by backdating or creating new documents
DHS staff could not prove they completed the required monitoring visits to parties receiving money, with most conducted remotely rather than in-person.
When auditors did perform on-site checks, they uncovered “serious concerns”
More than half of the grant agreements reviewed had missing or past-due progress reports, yet payments continued to be made.
The agency sent out the money before grant agreements were complete, violating state policy, and leading to overpayments
