Representative Ilhan Omar (D-MN) is facing new questions about her family’s sudden wealth as her husband’s venture capital firm quietly scrubbed its website amid widening federal investigations into what officials describe as one of the largest welfare fraud schemes in U.S. history.
Omar and her husband, political consultant Tim Mynett, reported assets between $6 million and $30 million in 2024 — a stunning leap from near insolvency when she entered Congress six years ago. The fortune comes as state and federal authorities uncover vast fraud networks in Minnesota, many tied to Somali-run nonprofits in Omar’s district.
A New York Post report found that Mynett’s firm, Rose Lake Capital, saw its value rise from under $1,000 in 2023 to as much as $25 million a year later. The company, based at a WeWork in Washington, D.C., claimed to manage “$60 billion in previous assets” through its officers — until those names were quietly deleted from its website this fall.
Among those scrubbed were several high-profile Democratic figures, including former Sen. Max Baucus, Ambassador Adam Ereli, and former Amalgamated Bank CEO Keith Mestrich. None are accused of wrongdoing, but their removal coincided with a new wave of indictments in Minnesota’s $9 billion welfare scandal.
“This reeks of political privilege,” said Paul Kamenar of the National Legal and Policy Center. “Omar entered Congress broke and now she’s worth tens of millions while her husband’s firm erases its records. She owes voters an explanation.”
The congresswoman’s wealth surge follows her sponsorship of the MEALS Act, which loosened oversight on children’s food programs during the pandemic. Critics say the change enabled widespread fraud, allowing nonprofits to claim millions in nonexistent meals.
At the center of the scandal is Feeding Our Future, a nonprofit accused of siphoning pandemic aid funds meant for children. Federal prosecutors allege the money was diverted to luxury homes, cars, and overseas real estate. Omar has not been charged, but three individuals convicted in the scheme donated to her campaign, including Salim Ahmed Said, the owner of Safari Restaurant, where she filmed a 2020 video praising the food program that later became a fraud hub. Another associate, Guhaad Hashi Said, worked for Omar’s campaign and pleaded guilty to stealing $3.2 million through a fake youth meal site.
Mynett’s second business venture, the California winery eStCru, is also drawing scrutiny. Once declared a failed project worth less than $50,000, it was suddenly valued between $1 million and $5 million in 2024, despite no apparent operations, disconnected phone lines, and a defunct website.
Meanwhile, newly appointed FBI Director Kash Patel announced a “major expansion” of the bureau’s investigation into fraud across Minnesota. Patel said agents are targeting “large-scale schemes exploiting federal programs” and that the bureau has “already exposed a $250 million network tied to Feeding Our Future.”
The comments came after journalist Nick Shirley released footage of the Quality Learning Center daycare — an apparently empty Minneapolis facility that received millions in taxpayer funds. Patel confirmed the FBI has opened additional inquiries into similar cases.
“Fraud that steals from taxpayers and robs vulnerable children will remain a top FBI priority,” Patel said. “This is just the tip of a very large iceberg.”
Vice President JD Vance called the scandals “a microcosm of immigration fraud in our system.” President Donald Trump has also weighed in, calling Minnesota “a hub of fraudulent money laundering activity” and blaming Governor Tim Walz and Omar for letting the corruption fester. “Send them back to where they came from,” Trump said in a Truth Social post.
Omar, for her part, has dismissed the criticism. “Absolutely not,” she said when asked if she regretted sponsoring the MEALS Act. “It helped feed kids.”
But with her finances under renewed scrutiny and the FBI following the money trail, questions about how Ilhan Omar went from broke to multimillionaire in six years are not likely to fade soon.
