Gov. Walz responds to audit critical of administration’s handling of Feeding Our Future fraud
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Gov. Tim Walz said he accepts responsibility after a report found his administration failed to stop what federal prosecutors call the biggest pandemic fraud case in the nation.
A report from the legislative auditor last week says “actions and inactions” by the Department of Education opened the door for fraud in taxpayer-funded child nutrition programs.
A jury in Minneapolis convicted five of seven defendants affiliated with the nonprofit Feeding Our Future in the first trial earlier this month. Dozens more have been charged in the case.
Walz said there wasn’t malfeasance at the state.
“There’s not a single state employee that was implicated in doing anything that was illegal. They simply didn’t do as much due diligence as they should have,” said Walz. “So, there’s been leadership changes in these organizations since that time, and we have new leadership in sense the certainly over at the Department of Education.”
The auditor said state education officials need to do more to verify information around “high-risk applicants” in the future.
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