Fake emails, foreign web connections revealed in Hennepin County grant program shut down over fraud

Applications linked to fake email addresses and internet connections routed through foreign countries flooded a Hennepin County small-business grant program before officials shut it down over potential fraud.

A 5 INVESTIGATES review of more than 1,000 applications submitted to the county’s Small Business Recovery Fund found what appear to be organized attempts to obtain taxpayer-funded grants intended for businesses affected by Operation Metro Surge.

The county shut down the program after distributing about $500,000 of a planned $2 million in grant funding and referred the matter to law enforcement.

The applications, obtained through a public records request, provide a rare look at the scale and sophistication of fraud attempts targeting a local government grant program.

The fraud attempts

5 INVESTIGATES found multiple small businesses in Minneapolis that had no idea so...