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Foreign Fraud Gangs Are Ripping Off West Coast States

The Somali fraud scandal has captured Americans’ imaginations. The story is almost unbelievable: Somalis in Minnesota allegedly set up fraudulent housing services, meal programs, and autism-therapy offerings, which formed part of a “web” that stole “billions of dollars in taxpayer money.” Some fraudulently obtained funds, according to federal law enforcement sources, ended up in the hands of Al-Shabaab terrorists.

Meantime, on the West Coast, another pattern of fraud has taken root: foreign criminals have developed sophisticated schemes to cheat and steal from unsuspecting Americans. I spoke with a veteran blue-city police detective, who has spent two decades investigating serious crimes, in order to learn more about how these groups operate and what might be done to stop them.

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