Omar Disclosures Show Husband’s Company Skyrocketed In Value Amid Minn. Fraud
A pair of companies owned by Tim Mynett, the husband of Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), reported explosive increases in valuation in recent years — surging more than twentyfold in less than a year — according to congressional financial disclosures that are now drawing scrutiny.
The disclosures emerge as Minnesota remains under intense investigation for widespread fraud involving government programs, with authorities estimating potential losses could exceed $9 billion statewide.
Financial filings tied to Omar’s personal assets show a dramatic rise in the reported value of Mynett’s business interests since 2020, Fox News reported.
According to Omar’s 2024 congressional financial disclosure, the value of Rose Lake Capital LLC — a firm co-founded by Mynett — jumped sharply. Omar reported the company’s worth at between $5 million and $25 million in 2024. Just one year earlier, in her 2023 filing, she listed the firm in the lowest valuation category, between $1 and $1,000.
While disclosure forms require lawmakers to report assets in broad ranges rather than exact figures, even the most conservative reading reflects an extraordinary year-over-year increase.
Rose Lake Capital’s website describes the firm as facilitating work in deal-making, mergers and acquisitions, banking, politics, and diplomacy.
At various points, the company publicly listed several high-profile figures among its personnel, including Adam Ereli, a lobbyist who previously served as U.S. ambassador to Bahrain during the Obama administration. Archived versions of the site also show past involvement by former Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.), as well as former Democratic National Committee officials William Derrough and Alex Hoffman.
Mynett, Omar’s third husband, co-founded Rose Lake Capital in 2022.
As public scrutiny intensified — fueled by massive fraud probes in Minnesota and questions over whether Omar may have benefited indirectly — Rose Lake Capital removed the names and biographies of its team members from its website. It remains unclear whether any of the previously listed individuals are still affiliated with the firm.
Another company tied to Omar’s financial disclosures, ESTCRU LLC, also showed a steep reported increase in value. The winery, registered in Santa Rosa, was listed as being worth between $1 million and $5 million in Omar’s 2024 filing, compared with an estimated value of $15,000 to $50,000 the prior year.
Despite the higher valuation, the winery’s online wine-purchase portal does not appear to be operational. The business also shows little recent public activity, with its most recent social media post dating back to January 2023. The phone number listed on the winery’s website is also non-functional, Fox News noted.
The couple’s rapidly expanding reported wealth coincides with state and federal investigations uncovering extensive fraud networks across Minnesota, many tied to Somali-run nonprofits operating within Omar’s congressional district.
“This reeks of political privilege,” said Paul Kamenar of the National Legal and Policy Center. “Omar entered Congress broke and now she’s worth tens of millions while her husband’s firm erases its records. She owes voters an explanation.”
At the center of the broader scandal is Feeding Our Future, a nonprofit accused of diverting pandemic aid funds intended to feed children. Federal prosecutors allege the money was instead used to purchase luxury homes, high-end vehicles, and overseas real estate.
Omar has not been charged. However, multiple individuals convicted in the scheme donated to her campaign. Among them is Salim Ahmed Said, owner of Safari Restaurant, where Omar filmed a 2020 video praising the food program that later became a focal point of the fraud investigation. Another associate, Guhaad Hashi Said, worked on Omar’s campaign and later pleaded guilty to stealing $3.2 million through a fraudulent youth meal operation.
FBI Director Kash Patel recently announced a “major expansion” of the bureau’s Minnesota fraud investigations. Patel said agents are pursuing “large-scale schemes exploiting federal programs” and confirmed the FBI has “already exposed a $250 million network tied to Feeding Our Future.”
The disclosures raise new questions about transparency, political influence, and whether lawmakers are being held to the same standards as the citizens they represent.