Ernst Presents Squeal Award to the Shady Bunch, Families Who Make Fraud a Family Affair

WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senator Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) announced her August Squeal Award recipient: fraudster families who make a living scamming hardworking Americans.

Ernst is exposing 15 families who collectively stole $50 million taxpayer dollars and has introduced the No Cash for Cohabitating Kins of Crooks Act to prohibit government loans, contracts, grants, or other financial payments going to anyone living with a known fraudster or convicted criminal.

“Committing fraud is literally all relative for these families of felons,” said Ernst. “While some families have a tradition of running 5Ks on holidays, fraud runs in these families—they’ll steal $5K or more and then make a run for it. My latest investigation found schemes sprouting from family trees across the country, with kin teaming up to rip off taxpayers to the tune of $50 million. That’s why I’m giving my August 2026 Squeal Award to the ‘Shady Bunch,’ families full of fraudsters who are chips off the old cell block. Their next scam-ily reunion will be in the slammer.”

Some of the most egregious examples include:

• The now-infamous Mohamed family operating out of Minnesota stole more than $10 million from the Federal Child Nutrition Program. Instead of feeding hungry kids, the family of felons spent the money on themselves.
• One California clan of crooks made off with $18 million in COVID relief, using fake names and stolen identities to obtain taxpayer money that funded luxury homes, gold coins, diamonds, designer goods and even a Harley-Davidson. After their convictions, several family members cut off their tracking devices and fled the country before eventually being caught.
• Four sisters fleeced the U.S. Department of Agriculture out of more than $11.5 million by submitting nearly 200 bogus discrimination claims from fake farmers. The daughter of one sister helped the scheme by notarizing fictitious witness statements.
• A Florida family used a sham ministry to obtain more than $8 million in pandemic aid, then attempted to use the money to buy a multi-million-mansion at Walt Disney World Resort. When authorities closed in, the family was caught in a Mercedes SUV packed with bags of shredded documents.

Read the bill here.

###