PLYMOUTH, Minn. – September 27, 2022 – Minnesota Attorney General candidate Jim Schultz today called on Keith Ellison to immediately correct his recent media statements and stop spreading misinformation about his handling of the massive fraud carried out by Feeding Our Future. Schultz’s statement comes the day after Schultz announced his plan to overhaul the Charities Division of the Office of the Attorney General to ensure that such unprecedented fraud never happens again, and to demand answers from Ellison on his failure to prevent the fraud.
“Keith Ellison’s statements regarding the Feeding Our Future fraud shows remarkable incompetence and total ignorance of his duties as Attorney General.
“Through the course of $250 million dollars being stolen from taxpayers, Ellison says that his office called the FBI and ‘sent a civil investigative demand to Feeding Our Future,’ and that ‘[t]he investigation is ongoing.’
“This is unbelievable. $250 million dollars were stolen. The U.S. Attorney’s Office filed 49 indictments for wire fraud, money laundering, and conspiracy. Meanwhile, Mr. Ellison has made a phone call and a request for documents and says there is an ‘ongoing’ investigation. No criminal investigation. No criminal charges. Not even a civil lawsuit.
“Time and time again, Ellison just hopes that Minnesotans will forgive his dereliction of duty because he was ‘working with the FBI.’ And even as he was ‘working with the FBI,’ he continued to send out tens of millions of dollars to those under investigation!
“Ellison is trying to say that Minnesota does not have criminal jurisdiction over multiple frauds committed within Minnesota! Again, this is either a lie or astonishing ignorance. The federal and state governments are ‘separate sovereigns,’ meaning that they both have responsibilities to enforce their respective laws. (Gamble v. United States(2019).)
“Rather than taking a back seat to the federal government, I will partner with the federal government to ensure all laws are enforced. Upon learning of this matter, I would have immediately worked to begin a criminal investigation into the following non-exhaustive list of laws:
- Minn. Stat. § 609.43—Misconduct of Public Officer or Employee
- Minn. Stat. § 609.455—Permitting False Claims Against Government
- Minn. Stat. § 609.465—Presenting False Claims to Public Officer or Body
- Minn. Stat. § 609.52—Theft
- Minn. Stat. § 609.53—Receiving Stolen Property
“In addition, I would use the State’s Racketeer Influenced & Corrupt Organizations Act, Minn. Stat. § 609.901 et. Seq., otherwise known as the ‘RICO Act,’ to bring Feeding Our Future criminals to justice. The Attorney General has explicit authority to prosecute it (Minn. Stat. § 609.902, Subd. 9.), and its requirements have clearly been satisfied here. The Act provides for a raft of penalties and remedies, including imprisonment for up to 20 years.
“Ellison apparently thinks that his duties have been fulfilled when he makes a phone call to the FBI. That is astonishing.
“Unlike Ellison, I actually know the law. I will enforce the law and will not take a ‘wait and see’ approach to massive fraud. And I won’t deliver tens of millions to fraudsters under investigation. Minnesota needs change, and it starts with firing Keith Ellison.”
