Somali Bantu Community Association of Maine Executive Director Muhidin Libah paid out over $100,000 from the charity he runs to members of his family between 2023 and 2024, tax filings show.
In 2023, Muhdin Libah paid his wife, Fadumo Libah, $21,551 for “various business transactions” and another family member, Hawa Dakane, $38,559 for work as a “Women’s Community Advocate,” according to tax documents. The Somali Bantu Community Association accepted $180,245 in government funding that year. 2024 brought more of the same, with Fadumo Libah and Dakane bringing in roughly $42,000 from the charity while it received $444,220 in public funds.
Allegations of fraud have swept the Somali community in recent months, particularly in Minnesota, which is home to a large population of Somali immigrants.
In May, a federal jury convicted the “mastermind” of the Feeding Our Future scandal, a $250 million fraud scheme involving Minnesota’s Somali community, of wire fraud and bribery. Her conviction followed dozens of Somali individuals pleading guilty to or being convicted of similar charges related to the scheme, which involved fraudsters billing the government for serving thousands of fictitious meals to children who did not exist.
More recently, federal authorities have charged members of Minnesota’s Somali community with falsifying autism diagnoses to fraudulently claim state funding. The community is also facing accusations of fraud related to its taxpayer-funded day cares, though no charges have yet been filed related to those allegations.
The scrutiny of social services fraud in the Somali community has spread to multiple states and types of taxpayer-funded entities.
As a “central pillar” of its work, the Somali Bantu Community Association provides members of the Somali community in Maine with access to traditional crops and meat through its “liberation farms” program. Additionally, it helps local Somali migrants by granting them access to small plots of farmland to grow produce for either personal consumption or sale.
Another of the organization’s central pillars involves its client navigation services, wherein it assists members of the Somali community in obtaining food stamps, child care licensing, Social Security benefits, housing assistance, public healthcare, and unemployment payments. It also assists in tax preparation and visa applications. The nonprofit organization serves over 2,500 people annually, according to its website.
The Somali Bantu Community Association of Maine and Muhidin Libah have attracted scrutiny in recent weeks following a report from the Maine Wire, a local conservative news operation, alleging that the nonprofit group routed funds intended to aid victims of a mass shooting into its bank account.
The Maine Community Foundation, in an effort promoted by Gov. Janet Mills (D-ME), collected funds to aid community recovery following the 2023 Lewiston shootings, which claimed 18 lives. Of the $6.6 million raised, $4.3 million was distributed to victims and their families. The remaining funds were given to a steering committee, which included Muhidin Libah, for distribution. He and the committee ultimately gave more than $65,000 to his organization.
POLITICALLY CONNECTED SOMALI NONPROFIT GROUP PULLED IN TAXPAYER DOLLARS AFTER MISHANDLING MILLIONS
None of the individuals killed during the shooting were of Somali descent. The Somali Bantu Community Association of Maine later justified receiving the funds by issuing a statement saying that it used the money to “reestablish a sense of safety for migrants and refugees.”
The Somali Bantu Community Association of Maine did not respond to a request for comment.