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Tim Walz gave 4.5 million to "The Somali Museum" five months after its landlord pled guilty to one of the largest frauds in state history.

The Somali Museum of Minnesota, founded in 2011 by Osman Ali, began as a modest cultural endeavor aimed at preserving Somali artifacts and… pic.twitter.com/2O0ts3SlZu

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Tim Walz gave 4.5 million to "The Somali Museum" five months after its landlord pled guilty to one of the largest frauds in state history.

The Somali Museum of Minnesota, founded in 2011 by Osman Ali, began as a modest cultural endeavor aimed at preserving Somali artifacts and heritage, for most of its history, it operated on a shoestring budget. Its highest annual revenue prior to the legislative windfalls of 2023 was a mere $373,220 in 2022.

Following the engagement of Hylden Advocacy & Law, the Museum’s financial trajectory shifted vertically.

In the 2023-2024 legislative cycle, the Museum secured three distinct direct appropriations totaling $4,550,000

For the predesign, design, construction, furnishing, and equipping of a new facility - $3.9 Million

A grant from the state tourism board for cultural festivals - $400,000

For heritage arts and cultural vitality programs - $250,000

a 1,100% increase in revenue, driven entirely by state tax dollars rather than organic donor growth. This massive infusion of capital transformed the Museum from a small community non-profit into a major state grantee.

The Museum is currently housed in the basement of the JigJiga Center on Lake Street in Minneapolis. The JigJiga Center is owned by Liban Alishire and Khadar Adan. Liban Alishire was a central figure in the Feeding Our Future fraud. He claimed to be feeding 2,500 children a day, seven days a week, from his various sites. In reality, he was laundering millions. He was indicted in September 2022 and pled guilty in January 2023, admitting to defrauding the government of over $2.4 million.