The Other FBI Raid This Month the Press Took No Interest In Covering

(AP Photo/Jenny Kane, File)

FBI raids are usually all the rage in the press. The dramatic storylines and visuals of a location being stormed by agents (hopefully armed!) make instant media fodder. But as we will see, not all FBI raids are created equal– make that, covered equally.

Earlier this month, municipal drama erupted in Baltimore when a DOJ investigation led to the FBI raid on the offices of the non-profit operation Keep Encouraging Youth to Succeed, also called KEYS Empowers.

This was a local outfit meant to supplement the lives of students and the elderly with a variety of services, from aiding students to providing training, as well as in-home food delivery and cooking lessons. It is not hard to see the corruption that took place.

KEYS was established in 2009, but things changed a few years ago. Mayor Brandon Scott appointed Mujahid Muhammad to the Baltimore City Board of School Commissioners, and he was placed as the new head of KEYS in 2023. That is when some notable changes took place.

The non-profit operated with a nebulous stated goal, which is the hallmark of problematic agencies. In a tax filing, the group’s mission statement was said to be, “Social support and guidance in becoming esteemed leaders with outstanding problem-solving and conflict resolution skills.” Hard to fail at a mission when few can grasp its intent.

The federal tax filings for KEYS declared in 2024 it saw $2 million in revenue and $2.1 million in operating costs. But those modest figures were eclipsed by glaring dollar figures that were brought to light when locals began digging into the financials.

One red flag of graft taking place in these non-profits is when a massive spike in federal payouts is seen in a short period. Last year I covered one of the myriad Minnesota fraud schemes, where a program to aid seniors with housing payments was established with a budget of $2-3 million, and in the span of four years exploded to a $100 million operation.

We see that in this Baltimore example, that very practice was in play. It turned out that in recent years, KEYS had been vacuuming up significant federal funds from 2018-2024, to the tune of $32 million. An ancillary outfit, dubbed KEYS Development, saw its federal stipend swell from $2.1 million to $8.7 million.

The issue is that as the funding grew, the development never developed. There was a proposed construction of what was to be a “Healing Village,” but as the Baltimore Banner details, at the proposed land for this center, “a sign at the construction site boasts a hopeful 2025 opening date.”

The outlet Project Baltimore combed through the financials and discovered that the budget paid out $427,201 dollars in salaries, but there was a hitch; the outfit boasted no employees. It also saw expenditures for those non-existent workers to “travel” ($79,701), and for nobody to take in “conferences, conventions, and meetings” ($242,288). So that was an additional $322,000, spent on…nobody.

Following the FBI raid on the KEYS Empower offices, Muhammad resigned rather briskly from the school board on September 30. All the various local outlets have been diligent on this case, but the national media has been reticent in covering any aspect.

Much like the Minnesota and California fraud cases that have been mushrooming this year, the press appears resistant to broadcasting details from Democrat-held states where rampant fraud keeps being exposed.

Baltimore, being a city that has extensive – almost exclusive – Democrat officers in government, can be added to the list of locations where the news outlets take an apathetic approach to the fraud being exposed. As a result, few are hearing about this FBI raid in the city, as it is difficult to spin this financial fraud case as an example of retribution by the administration.

This is an opinion piece. The views expressed in this article are those of just the author.

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