Department of Labor says it will send strike team to investigate reported Minnesota unemployment insurance fraud

An unidentified speaker (Speaker 2) said the U.S. Department of Labor will send a strike team to Minnesota to investigate reported unemployment insurance fraud and has asked state officials to reproduce related reports by Jan. 1.

"Unemployment insurance fraud is something that the American people don't deserve," Speaker 2 said, adding that the fund is intended "to bridge the gap between when people lose their job at no fault of their own" and that "when you steal hundreds of millions of dollars from the American taxpayer, we need to find out what's happening." Speaker 2 said a letter has been sent and that the Department of Labor, through the Employment and Training Administration, has made the request of Minnesotans.

The exchange includes a specific allegation posed by Speaker 1, who asked whether reports that "Somalis loading up suitcases with dollars and flying to Africa to deliver it" were accurate. Speaker 2 responded that "that's exactly what we wanna find out" and reiterated that the requested materials are due by Jan. 1 so the strike team can "do that full investigation and report to the American people exactly where those dollars have gone."

Speaker 2 also stated, "We will not tolerate fraud under this administration," framing the Department's inquiry as an administrative enforcement action. The transcript does not identify the speakers by name or provide additional details about the evidence behind the allegation of cash shipments or the identities of people involved.

Next steps recorded in the transcript are the Department's request for reports and deployment of a UI strike team; no formal charges, arrests, or findings were reported in the provided transcript excerpt.