By Michael Arnst

In 2005, the Internal Revenue Service audited three hundred Minnesota Somalis because of one fraudulent Somali tax preparer. At the time, an IRS spokesperson, Janet Oakes was quoted in a Star Tribune article, warning, “They need to be as careful in choosing a tax preparer as they would a doctor or a lawyer, because they're entrusting them with their personal information.” Since then, several Twin Cities non-profits, both Somali- and American-led, have tried to repair and rebuild the relationship between the Somali community and government officials.