Democrats Backed Minneapolis Group Accused of $6.5 Million Fraud
A Minneapolis violence prevention nonprofit championed by Democratic leaders faces fraud allegations after former executives allegedly stole $6.5 million for luxury spending while maintaining no governance structure.
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison filed a civil lawsuit Friday against a Minneapolis violence prevention nonprofit that Democratic leaders championed. Former executives allegedly stole $6.5 million for luxury cars, Las Vegas trips and private businesses. The suit reveals how taxpayer-funded community programs collapsed without basic governance — no board meetings, no bylaws, no budget, just "back of the napkin" accounting.
The Hennepin County complaint, filed May 8, targets We Push for Peace, founder Trahern Pollard and former board chair and treasurer Jaclyn McGuigan. Pollard personally benefited from more than $6 million of the misappropriated funds. McGuigan took approximately $500,000, according to the attorney general's office. The organization received millions in taxpayer grants following the 2020 death of George Floyd while maintaining no formal governance structures.
Pollard admitted to investigators that "I treated the money like it was mine." The $6.5 million funded luxury vehicles, Las Vegas excursions including a $1,009.99 ATM withdrawal in August 2022, Harley-Davidson purchases, child support payments, IRS tax settlements and subsidies for his privately owned liquor store and used car dealership.
The nonprofit cultivated political connections that fueled its funding surge. Pollard's website claims he was frequently called upon by Gov. Tim Walz, the mayors of Minneapolis and St. Paul and "other Democratic leaders, all the way up to the Biden White House and its Community Violence Taskforce." Government grants from Hennepin County and Minneapolis began flowing in 2020. Revenue skyrocketed from $267,089 in 2020 to $6.9 million in 2024.
Those claims originate from the organization's own website and remain unverified beyond Washington Examiner reporting. What is documented, however, is the complete governance collapse that enabled the fraud.
The nonprofit had no formal board of directors and held no board meetings, according to the lawsuit. McGuigan, who drafted an accounting manual, described her own record-keeping as "back of the napkin." Pollard classified community engagers as independent contractors specifically to circumvent background checks. Many workers had criminal records. The U.S. Department of Labor initiated a Fair Labor Standards Act investigation. The nonprofit settled a wage-and-hour lawsuit for $35,000 in January 2026.
When the board finally revoked Pollard's access to nonprofit funds, he created Change Makers Service Corporation and deposited at least $930,794 in checks payable to We Push for Peace into the new entity's accounts. A major grocer terminated its contract upon learning of the attorney general's investigation. By April 2026, the organization's offices were "essentially sitting vacant" with "no funding to support the services."
The collapse left communities vulnerable when they needed support most. During Operation Metro Surge, a federal deportation enforcement operation that sparked violent riots in the Twin Cities, the City of Minneapolis requested We Push for Peace's assistance. The organization was "utterly incapable" of providing any community support, Ellison stated.
"We Push for Peace's former leaders betrayed their basic duties to the nonprofit and communities they were supposed to serve," Ellison said in a May 8 press release. "Instead of helping the community, they helped themselves to millions of dollars that should have gone into the community."
The case follows a pattern of Minnesota nonprofit fraud, including the Feeding Our Future scandal that drained more than $250 million in federal pandemic food aid. Political.org notes the We Push for Peace case "reflects a similar vulnerability: when governments move quickly to fund community organizations in response to crises, robust financial oversight mechanisms do not always keep pace."
Discern Money commentary states: "This is not mere mismanagement. It is the predictable fruit of a system that funnels vast sums of public money into unaccountable nonprofits run by political allies."
Pollard has a prior conviction for theft by swindle and has not responded to requests for comment. McGuigan has not responded. The civil case proceeds in Hennepin County. The organization that Democratic leaders championed as a community violence prevention solution is now defunct, its offices empty and its mission abandoned.