Partially recognized Horn of Africa nation Somaliland called for firebrand “Squad” Rep. Ilhan Omar to be extradited after Vice President JD Vance claimed she committed immigration fraud — promising the White House would “go after” her.
“Deportation? Please you’re just sending the princess back to her kingdom. Extradition? Say the word …” the republic’s official X account wrote in response.
Somaliland has been a self-governing territory since 1991, however, most countries, including the US, don’t formally recognize it as an independent country.
Somali-born Omar has voiced opposition to the republic being recognized.
Vance made the comments in a podcast interview with conservative host Benny Johnson in a wide-ranging conversation, including her possible ties to widespread human services fraud in Minnesota…
THE HASHFLARE “CLOUD MINING” PONZI SCHEME (GLOBAL/ESTONIA)
Date: February 13, 2025 (Guilty Pleas) Perpetrators: Sergei Potapenko and Ivan Turogin
Case Description: This $577 million cryptocurrency fraud remains one of the largest digital asset scams in history, with major legal developments concluding in 2025. Potapenko and Turogin operated “Hashflare,” which they marketed as a massive cryptocurrency mining operation. Hundreds of thousands of victims worldwide purchased “mining contracts,” believing they were renting hash power to mine Bitcoin. In reality, the duo was running a sophisticated Ponzi scheme.
They created fake customer dashboards that showed “real-time” mining profits, but the money being paid out was simply the capital of newer investors. They laundered the proceeds through shell companies to purchase luxury real estate and a fleet of high-end vehicles. After a massive international investigation involving the FBI and Estonian authorities, the pair agreed to forfeit over $400 million in assets. This case underscores the “Cyber-enabled Fraud” warning issued by the FATF in early 2026: as technology evolves, the scale of fraud moves from local millions to global billions in the blink of an eye.
Link to Original: ACFE – High Profile Fraud of 2025