A third defendant pleads guilty to juror bribery in massive Minnesota food fraud case

April 3, 2025:

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A third defendant pleaded guilty Wednesday (April 2, 2025) for his role in an attempt to bribe a juror with a bag of $120,000 in cash in exchange for acquittals in a massive COVID-19-related fraud case in Minnesota.

Abdulkarim Shafii Farah pleaded guilty to one count of bribery of a juror. He was the third of five defendants to admit to federal charges arising from the bribery case, which broke last year during the first trial of people charged in the Feeding Our Future scandal. Two of the seven defendants in that trial were Farah’s brothers.

According to prosecutors, after Farah’s codefendants decided to target one juror with a bribe attempt, Farah conducted surveillance of the juror and her house. He also drove a Seattle woman to the juror’s house and recorded a video of her delivering the bag of cash to a relative of the juror because they didn’t fully trust their accomplice. But the juror went straight to police after she got home later.

Prosecutors have alleged that the defendants targeted “Juror 52” because she was the youngest and they believed her to be the only person of color on the panel.

The Seattle woman, Ladan Mohamed Ali, pleaded guilty last September. The man who recruited her, Abdimajid Mohamed Nur, pleaded guilty last July.

Farah, Ali and Nur are all awaiting sentencing. Cases against the two others charged in the bribery case are pending. Although the charge against Farah carries a maximum sentence of 15 years, the prosecution and defense agreed under the plea deal that the nonbinding federal sentencing guidelines recommend 46 to 57 months in prison.

Seventy people were charged and 45 have already been convicted in the larger fraud case, which centered on a nonprofit called Feeding Our Future. Prosecutors allege the participants stole $250 million from a federal program that was meant to feed children during the pandemic. The alleged ringleader, Aimee Bock, was convicted on all counts in her trial last month. Bock’s trial drew national attention partly because of an attempt to tamper with a witness that was foiled.

Lisa Kirkpatrick, the acting U.S. attorney for Minnesota — who has called Feeding Our Future the largest fraud scheme against COVID-19 relief programs anywhere in the country — said in a statement Wednesday that the bribe attempt was “a shameful chapter in Minnesota history.”

“I am grateful for Juror 52, who is the true hero of this story. Juror 52 — who could not be corrupted and immediately alerted law enforcement — represents the best of Minnesota,” Kirkpatrick said.

March 19, 2025:

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A jury found the alleged ringleader of a massive pandemic fraud case in Minnesota guilty on all counts Wednesday (March 19, 2025) for her role in a scheme that federal prosecutors say stole $250 million from a program meant to feed children in need.

Aimee Bock — founder of Feeding our Future, the group at the heart of the plot — was one of 70 defendants charged in the overall case, which prosecutors said was the nation’s single largest fraud scheme against COVID-19 relief programs.

The Minnesota case has also drawn attention for an attempt to bribe a juror in an earlier trial and witness tampering in Bock’s trial, which began last month. Thirty-seven defendants have already pleaded guilty, while five were convicted in a group of defendants who were tried last year.

The jury also convicted a co-defendant, Salim Ahmed Said, owner of the now-defunct Safari Restaurant in Minneapolis.

Bock, 44, and Said, 36, were charged with multiple counts involving conspiracy, wire fraud and bribery. Said was also charged with money laundering. Bock allegedly pocketed nearly $2 million, while Said was accused of taking around $5 million. They both maintained their innocence and testified at trial.

U.S. District Judge Nancy Brasel ordered them both held without bail pending their sentencing, for which she did not set a date.

“It was the largest COVID fraud scheme in the country, and what Bock and and her co-defendants did was reprehensible.” Lisa Kirkpatrick the acting U.S. attorney for Minnesota, said at a news conference afterward.

“During COVID, while so many were trying to be helpers, Bock and Said were thieves,” she continued. “They used a time of crisis as their golden opportunity to enrich themselves and their criminal partners — outlandishly so. At every step of the way, Bock fought to keep her fraud scheme going. Today her efforts to lie, to blame others, to escape responsibility, all came to an end.”

Bock’s attorney, Kenneth Udoibok, said there will be an appeal. While he has not decided what legal grounds might be used as its basis, he told The Associated Press that the jury could not have fairly considered all six weeks’ worth of evidence in the few hours they deliberated after getting the case Wednesday morning.

But lead prosecutor Joe Thompson called the scheme “brazen and corrupt” and told reporters it tarnished Minnesota’s reputation for good governance and civic mindedness as well as its high quality of life and low crime.

“The Feeding Our Future case has come to symbolize the problem of fraud in our state,” Thompson said. “It has become the shame of Minnesota. Hopefully today’s verdict will help turn the page in this awful chapter in our state’s history.”

Democratic Gov. Tim Walz, who came under heavy criticism from Republicans who said his administration should have caught the fraud earlier, told reporters he remains “furious” with “criminals that preyed on the system that was meant to feed children.” But he pointed out that nobody in state government, which administered the federal funding, was ever charged in the case.

“We just need to make sure that we put up more firewalls, more security, more ability to make sure that these criminals aren’t able to prey on this,” Walz said.

Thompson said authorities have recovered only about $60 million of the $250 million that was stolen. He declined to speculate on what prosecutors might recommend for sentences but said Bock and Said face “substantial” prison time.

The defendants are being tried in several groups. The first trial was marred by an alleged attempt by some defendants and people linked with them to bribe a juror with a bag of $120,000 in cash. That juror went straight to police. That led to tighter security for Bock’s trial and additional precautions ordered by the judge.

Despite all that, an allegation of witness tampering surfaced midway through the proceedings. A defendant scheduled for trial in August approached a government witness who was due to testify against Bock and Said and asked to speak with him in a courthouse bathroom. That witness declined and instead told his lawyer, who informed prosecutors.

That defendant, Abdinasir Abshir, 32, of Lakeville, soon agreed to plead guilty to a wire fraud charge and to have his tampering attempt factored into a longer sentencing recommendation, which isn’t binding on the judge.

March 8, 2025:

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A man accused of witness tampering in a courtroom hallway pleaded guilty Friday (March 7, 2025) to wire fraud for his role in a scheme that prosecutors said stole $250 million from a federally funded program meant to feed children.

The allegation of witness tampering against Abdinasir Abshir, 32, of Lakeville, surfaced last month in the trial of the alleged ringleader, Aimee Bock, the founder of the now-defunct nonprofit Feeding Our Future, and Salim Said, a former Minneapolis restaurant owner.

Seventy defendants have been charged altogether. Abshir was the 37th to plead guilty. Five were convicted last year in the first trial. The ongoing trial of Bock and Said is the second in the case. Abshir was due to stand trial in August as part of a later group.

That first trial was marred by an alleged attempt by some defendants and people linked with them to bribe a juror with a bag of $120,000 in cash. That juror went straight to police. That led to tighter security for Bock’s trial, and additional precautions ordered by U.S. District Judge Nancy Brasel.

Under Abshir’s plea deal, both sides agreed that federal guidelines recommend 63 to 78 months in prison on the wire fraud count, a sentence made tougher because of Abshir’s attempt to intimidate the witness. He also agreed to pay nearly $2.3 million in restitution and forfeit a 2021 Range Rover he bought with his proceeds.

Brasel noted that she is not bound by the recommendations and did not set a sentencing date.

Prosecutors alleged that Abshir approached a government witness and asked to speak with him in a courthouse bathroom. That witness, Sharmake Jama, the former owner of a Rochester restaurant, pleaded guilty earlier and agreed to testify against Bock and Said. Jama declined to enter the bathroom and instead told his lawyer, who informed prosecutors.

Earlier that day, court filings show, Abshir and another man had entered the courtroom loudly, apparently aware that a postal inspector was expected to testify about Abshir’s role. Abshir and the other man sat in the front row, close to the jury box, and continued to be disruptive until security approached them and they left.

Then Abshir approached Jama, who was sitting on a bench in the hallway, waiting to testify.

Abshir was later taken back into custody. In a detention order Thursday, Magistrate Judge Tony Leung found probable cause that Abshir committed a felony by attempting to intimidate Jama.

“Like the jury tampering that has been alleged to have occurred in the only other Feeding Our Future case tried thus far, intimidation of a witness is also a direct attack on the integrity, efficacy, and reliability of this nation’s judicial system,” Leung wrote. “The disregard for norms of laws and rules is all the more brazen in the context of the heightened scrutiny after the jury tampering charges stemming from the previously tried case.”

Abshir was accused of opening a fraudulent food distribution site called Stigma Free Mankato. Prosecutors allege he and his brother falsely claimed to have served more than 1.6 million meals to children in 2020 and 2021 in Mankato, a city of about 46,000 people. They allegedly collected $5.4 million. Abshir admitted to his role in that, and to paying $100,000 in bribes and kickbacks to a Feeding Our Future employee.

Defense attorney Craig Cascarano acknowledged that it was “a huge misstep on his part” for Abshir to approach the witness.

“It was a shocking incident,” Cascarano told the judge.

In ordering Abshir held without bail, Brasel cited the “flagrant actions” he took “not very far” from her bench, after warning him that going forward, it would be “a really bad idea” to for him try to talk to other witnesses or defendants.

February 20, 2025:

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A federal judge on Wednesday (Feb. 19, 2025) ordered defendants in all upcoming cases stemming from a major COVID-19 pandemic fraud case in Minnesota to stay away from her courtroom after allegations of witness tampering surfaced in the trial of the alleged ringleader. Prosecutors say the scheme stole $250 million from a program meant to feed children.

Aimee Bock, who founded and led the now-defunct nonprofit, went on trial this month with Salim Said, a former co-owner of Safari Restaurant in Minneapolis, for their alleged roles in the scheme. They’re among 70 defendants charged in the investigation. Many of them have already pleaded guilty. The others are being tried in batches.

U.S. District Judge Nancy Brasel imposed the restrictions a day after Assistant U.S. Attorney Joe Thompson made the allegation. He said in court after testimony ended Tuesday that the alleged attempt was especially troubling in light of an attempt in June to bribe a juror in the first trial of defendants in the sprawling fraud case, which centers on a group called Feeding Our Future.

Prosecutors have called it one of the country’s largest pandemic-related fraud cases. The first trial was marred by an alleged attempt by some defendants and people linked with them to bribe a juror with a bag of $120,000 in cash. The juror went straight to police.

“Here we find ourselves again with people trying to corrupt our process,” Thompson told the judge.

Thompson said a defendant who’s slated for trial later this year, Abdinasir Abshir, approached a witness in the courthouse hallway while testimony was underway Tuesday and asked to speak with him in a bathroom. That witness, Sharmake Jama, the former owner of Brava Cafe in Rochester, pleaded guilty earlier along with four family members and agreed to testify against Bock and Said. Jama told his lawyer about the approach, who in turn informed the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

“I just want to be clear — witness tampering is a crime and a serious one,” Brasel said. “And that’s what we are trying to prevent here. I don’t know what occurred here today but I am going to find out.”

Brasel said she would interview Jama about the incident along with a federal marshal who witnessed some of the conversation, and one of the prosecutors.

In her order Wednesday, Brasel said all defendants charged in the upcoming cases must contact her chambers 24 hours in advance if they want to attend the current or other trials. This would allow the court to set up an overflow viewing location on a different floor of the federal courthouse in Minneapolis. She prohibited those defendants from coming to the floor where her courtroom is located.

Abshir’s attorney, Craig Cascarano, said Wednesday that his client never intended to intimidate any witness and didn’t even know that Jama was a potential witness. He said Abshir recognized him during a chance encounter in the hallway and just wanted to express his condolences over the recent deaths of Jama’s mother and sister.

The judge on Tuesday ordered Said and Bock not to speak with any witnesses or co-defendants in the case. The two are not in custody, and Brasel threatened to jail them if they violated the order.

February 4, 2025:

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A jury has been seated (Feb. 3, 2025) for the trial of the alleged ringleader of a scheme to exploit the COVID-19 pandemic that federal prosecutors say stole $250 million from a program meant to feed children. But the attorney for Aimee Bock, the founder of Feeding our Future — the group that prosecutors say was at the heart of the plot — insists she’s innocent. Bock and a co-defendant will be the second group to stand trial in what prosecutors call one of the country’s largest COVID-19-related fraud case. The first resulted in five convictions, and five people were charged with trying to bribe a juror.

Story Body

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A jury was seated Monday (Feb. 3, 2025) in the trial of the alleged ringleader of a scheme that federal prosecutors say exploited the COVID-19 pandemic to steal $250 million from a program meant to feed children.

Prosecutors have called it one of the country’s largest pandemic-related fraud cases. A related trial last year was marred by alleged attempt by some defendants and people linked with them to bribe a juror with a bag of $120,000 in cash. The juror went straight to police.

Aimee Bock — the founder of Feeding our Future, the group that prosecutors say was at the heart of the plot — is one of 70 defendants charged. Thirty of them have already pleaded guilty to various charges, including some who had been scheduled to go on trial with Bock this week.

One defendant from the first trial was sentenced this month to 17 1/2 years, the longest prison term handed down in the case so far.

Opening statements in the trial of Bock and a co-defendant are set for Feb. 10 and the proceedings are expected to last around four weeks:

The big picture

Federal prosecutors allege the conspiracy revolved around two small nonprofits — Feeding Our Future and Partners in Nutrition — that were approved as sponsors of the Federal Child Nutrition Program before the pandemic. They dramatically increased the number of meal sites that they claimed to be sponsoring during the pandemic. Feeding Our Future went from receiving and disbursing $3.4 million in federal funds in 2019 to nearly $200 million in 2021. Sites sponsored by Feeding Our Future falsely claimed to be serving thousands of children daily, prosecutors allege.

“In all, Feeding Our Future fraudulently obtained and disbursed more than $240 million in Federal Child Nutrition Program funds during the Covid-19 pandemic,” prosecutors wrote in a preview of their case this month. The total included administrative fees to which Feeding Our Future was not entitled, they said.

“Bock and other Feeding Our Future employees also solicited and received bribes and kickbacks from individuals and companies sponsored by Feeding Our Future,” prosecutors continued. “Feeding Our Future operated a pay-to-play scheme, where individuals seeking to operate fraudulent sites under the sponsorship of Feeding Our Future had to kick back a portion of their fraudulent proceeds to Feeding Our Future employees.”

The defense

Bock’s attorney, Kenneth Udoibok, said she’s not guilty of the federal fraud, conspiracy and bribery charges against her.

“This woman was hoodwinked, played by people she trusted,” Udoibok said in an interview last week. “She trusted that these people that have pled guilty, she trusted them to have delivered food to needy children, needy people, deserving folks. And they played her.”

Udoibok said the large number of guilty pleas, and the fact that they’re now down to just Bock and a co-defendant in this trial, doesn’t change the defense strategy. He said the jury will be able to see the difference between her and the rest of the defendants despite the complexities of the case.

“She accepted no bribes or kickbacks from anybody. She did not know that the invoices were fraudulent. She was focused on providing as much access to needy people as possible, that is, feeding adults and children during COVID and during the George Floyd protests,” Udoibok said.

An attorney for Bock’s co-defendant, Salim Ahmed Said, did not return a call seeking comment.

The bribe

Five people were charged with bribery because of the attempt in the first trial, including three who were on trial at the time. Two of the five have already pleaded guilty, while one more is scheduled to change his plea to guilty in the bribery case in March. U.S. Attorney Andrew Luger described the elaborate scheme as “something out of a mob movie.”

U.S. District Judge Nancy Brasel, who is overseeing Bock’s trial, has ordered extra steps to shield the jurors’ identities and prevent any further bribe attempts.

The political repercussions

The federal money flowed through the state Department of Education, and the loss of 250 million taxpayer dollars became a major political problem for Democratic Gov. Tim Walz. His administration largely blamed federal authorities, saying the FBI asked them not to cut off the flow of funds to protect its investigation. Walz’s critics insist he should have done more. While Walz comfortably won reelection in 2022, the issue resurfaced after presidential candidate Kamala Harris picked him as her running mate.

This year, Republicans in the closely divided Minnesota Legislature have made fighting fraud in government programs one of their top issues, and not just because of Feeding our Future. Walz himself has proposed his own anti-fraud package. But the 2025 legislative session is off to a contentious start and it’s not clear yet if the sides can reach the bipartisan consensus that will be needed to pass anything.

February 3, 2025:

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Jury selection begins Monday (Feb. 3, 2025) in the trial of the alleged ringleader of a scheme to exploit the COVID-19 pandemic that federal prosecutors say stole $250 million from a program meant to feed children. But the attorney for Aimee Bock, the founder of Feeding our Future — the group that prosecutors say was at the heart of the plot — insists that she’s innocent. Bock and a co-defendant will be the second group to stand trial in what prosecutors call one of the country’s largest COVID-19-related fraud case. The first resulted in five convictions, and five people were charged with trying to bribe a juror.

Story Body

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Jury selection begins Monday (Feb. 3, 2025) in the trial of the alleged ringleader of a scheme to exploit the COVID-19 pandemic that federal prosecutors say stole $250 million from a program meant to feed children, the latest chapter in a broader case that has also included an attempt to bribe a juror and political repercussions against Gov. Tim Walz.

But the attorney for Aimee Bock, the founder of Feeding our Future — the group that prosecutors say was at the heart of the plot — insists that she’s innocent.

Bock and a co-defendant will be the second group to stand trial in what prosecutors call one of the country’s largest COVID-19-related fraud cases anywhere. The first trial resulted in the conviction of five people last year and received widespread attention after some defendants and people linked with them allegedly tried — unsuccessfully — to bribe a juror with a bag of $120,000 in cash. The juror went straight to police instead.

Bock is one of 70 defendants charged in the overall case. They’re being tried in batches. Thirty of them have already pleaded guilty to various charges, including some who had been scheduled to go on trial with Bock this week. One defendant from the first trial was sentenced this month to 17 1/2 years, the longest prison term handed down in the case so far.

Here’s a look at a trial that’s expected to last around six weeks:

The big picture

Federal prosecutors allege that the conspiracy revolved around two groups — Feeding Our Future and Partners in Nutrition — that were both small nonprofits that were approved as sponsors of the Federal Child Nutrition Program before the pandemic. But the two groups dramatically increased the number of meal sites that they claimed to be sponsoring during the pandemic. Feeding Our Future went from receiving and disbursing $3.4 million in federal funds in 2019 to nearly $200 million in 2021. Sites sponsored by Feeding Our Future falsely claimed to be serving thousands of children daily, prosecutors allege.

The defense

Bock’s attorney, Kenneth Udoibok, said they’ll argue at trial that she’s not guilty of the federal fraud, conspiracy and bribery charges against her.

“She’s innocent and she’s going to express that belief, that truth, until the day she dies,” Udoibok said in an interview last week. “This woman was hoodwinked, played by people she trusted. She trusted that these people that have pled guilty, she trusted them to have delivered food to needy children, needy people, deserving folks. And they played her.”

Udoibok said the large number of guilty pleas, and the fact that they’re now down to just Bock and a co-defendant for this trial, doesn’t change the defense strategy. He said the jury will be able to see the difference between her and the rest of the defendants despite the complexities of the overall case.

An attorney for Bock’s co-defendant, Salim Ahmed Said, did not return a call seeking comment on the case.

The bribe

U.S. District Judge Nancy Brasel, who is overseeing Bock’s trial, has ordered extra steps to shield the jurors’ identities and prevent any further bribe attempts.

The political repercussions

SEPTEMBER 6, 2024:

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A Seattle woman pleaded guilty Thursday (Sept. 5, 2024) to attempting to bribe a Minnesota juror with a bag of $120,000 in cash in exchange for an acquittal in one of the country’s largest COVID-19-related fraud cases.

Ladan Mohamed Ali, 31, dropped off a cash bribe in a plan that involved tracking a juror to her home and promising more money if the woman agreed to return a not guilty verdict in the fraud case. Ali is one of five people charged in the attempted bribery of the juror, a scheme prosecutors have described as “something out of a mob movie.” Officials have also said rare attempts to bribe jurors threaten foundational aspects of the judicial system.

Ali wiped away tears while answering questions from prosecutors before U.S. District Judge David Doty. She said was pleading guilty because she “wanted to take responsibility for my actions.” Ali’s attorney, Eric Newmark, did not immediately return a call seeking an additional comment.

Court documents revealed an extravagant scheme in which Ali and her co-defendants are accused of researching the juror’s personal information on social media, surveilling her, tracking her daily habits and buying a GPS device to install on her car.

The four others charged with crimes related to the bribe are Abdiaziz Shafii Farah, Said Shafii Farah, Abdulkarim Shafii Farah and Abdimajid Mohamed Nur. Nur, 23, pleaded guilty to one count of bribery of a juror in July. The other three defendants have pleaded not guilty.

The group hatched the bribery plan in mid-May, records show.

Nur admitted to recruiting Ali, who delivered the bribe money to the juror’s home. She flew from Seattle to Minneapolis in May to meet with Nur and allegedly agreed to deliver the bribe money later that month to the home of “Juror #52” in exchange for $150,000, prosecutors said.

In new details revealed in federal court Thursday, prosecutors said Ali was concerned the plan would fail and that she would not get paid. So Ali came up with a separate plan to steal some or all of the bribe money.

Ali lied to Nur and said she had approached the juror at a bar, according to prosecutors. Ali claimed the juror wanted $500,000 in exchange for returning a not guilty verdict, and that the juror had instructed her to deliver the money when she’d be home alone. In reality, Ali had never spoken to the juror, prosecutors said.

On June 2, Abdiaziz Farah instructed Nur to meet at Said Farah’s business to pick up the bribe money, court records say. When Nur arrived at the business, Said Farah gave him a cardboard box containing the money. Nur gave the money to Ali after picking her up in a parking lot later in the day. Hours later, Ali and Abdulkarim Farah drove to a Target store and purchased a screwdriver, which they used to remove the license plates from Ali’s rental car before driving to the juror’s home.

Ali knew Abdulkarim Farah had planned to follow her and film the encounter at the juror’s home, but when he insisted on driving Ali rather than taking separate cars, she abandoned her separate plan to steal all of the bribe money.

Nur had given Ali $200,000 in cash, all of which was intended to be used to bribe the juror. Ali knocked on the juror’s door and was greeted by a relative. Ali handed the gift bag to her and explained there would be more money if the juror voted to acquit. But Ali only delivered $120,000 and kept the remaining $80,000 for herself.

The juror called the police, setting off an an FBI investigation that led to the group’s arrest. Authorities believe the defendants targeted the woman, known as “Juror #52,” because she was the youngest and they believed she might be sympathetic to the defendant, as the only person of color on the panel.

Five of the seven people charged in the pandemic fraud trial were later convicted. The defendants in that case were accused of coordinating to steal more than $40 million from a federal program that was supposed to feed children during the COVID-19 pandemic. More than $250 million in federal funds were taken overall in the scheme, and only about $50 million has been recovered, authorities say.

Abdiaziz Farah and Abdimajid Nur were among five people convicted in the pandemic fraud trial in June while Said Farah and another person were acquitted. Abdulkarim Farah and Ali were not involved in the original fraud case.

Ali will be sentenced at a later date.

JUNE 27, 2024:

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Five people were charged Wednesday (June 26, 2024) with conspiring to bribe a Minnesota juror with a bag of $120,000 in cash in exchange for the acquittal of defendants in one of the country’s largest COVID-19-related fraud cases, the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the FBI announced Wednesday.

Court documents made public reveal an extravagant scheme in which the accused researched the juror’s personal information on social media, surveilled her, tracked her daily habits and bought a GPS device to install on her car. Authorities believe the defendants targeted the woman, known as “Juror 52,” because she was the youngest and they believed her to be the only person of color on the panel.

According to court documents, the group came up with a “blueprint” of arguments for the juror to help persuade other jurors to acquit, injecting the idea that prosecutors were motivated by racial animus: “(w)e are immigrants, they don’t respect us,” the list of proposed arguments read.

The juror reported the bribery attempt and was removed from the case before deliberations began.

The bribe attempt brought renewed attention to the trial of seven Minnesota defendants accused of coordinating to steal more than $40 million from a federal program that was supposed to feed children during the coronavirus pandemic. More than $250 million in federal funds were taken overall in the scheme and only about $50 million has been recovered, authorities say.

Abdiaziz Shafii Farah, Abdimajid Mohamed Nur, Said Shafii Farah, Abdulkarim Shafii Farah and Ladan Mohamed Ali are each charged with one count of conspiracy to bribe a juror, one count of bribery of a juror and one count of corruptly influencing a juror, according to the indictment.

Abdiaziz Shafii Farah is also charged with one count of obstruction of justice.

Abdiaziz Shafii Farah and Abdimajid Mohamed Nur were among five convicted in the fraud trial earlier this month while Said Shafii Farah was acquitted. Abdulkarim Shafii Farah and Ladan Mohamed Ali were not involved.

JUNE 13, 2024:

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A watchdog report says a Minnesota state agency’s inadequate oversight of a federal program that was meant to provide food to kids created the opportunities that led to the theft of $250 million in one of the country’s largest pandemic aid fraud cases. The Office of the Legislative Auditor says the state Department of Education “failed to act on warning signs” and “did not effectively exercise its authority.” Seventy people have been charged for their alleged roles. The state agency disputes the findings. But Republican legislative leaders say the report shows that the failure to stop the fraud lies with the administration of Democratic Gov. Tim Walz.

Extended version:

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A Minnesota agency’s inadequate oversight of a federal program that was meant to provide food to kids, and its failure to act on red flags, created the opportunities that led to the theft of $250 million in one of the country’s largest pandemic aid fraud cases, the Legislature’s watchdog arm said Thursday (June 13, 2024) in a scathing report.

The Minnesota Department of Education “failed to act on warning signs known to the department prior to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and prior to the start of the alleged fraud, did not effectively exercise its authority to hold Feeding Our Future accountable to program requirements, and was ill-prepared to respond to the issues it encountered with Feeding Our Future,” the nonpartisan Office of the Legislative Auditor concluded.

Seventy people have been charged in federal court for their alleged roles in a scheme prosecutors say centered on a nonprofit called Feeding Our Future. Five of the first seven defendants to stand trial were convicted Friday. The trial gained widespread attention after someone tried to bribe a juror with a bag of $120,000 in cash the night before the case went to the jury. Authorities are still trying to determine the source of that money.

Eighteen other defendants have already pleaded guilty. Trials are still pending for the others.

Education Commissioner Willie L. Jett II disputed the auditor’s characterization of his agency’s oversight as inadequate. He said in a written response in the 120-page report that its oversight “met applicable standards” and that department officials “made effective referrals to law enforcement.” He said department staffers first spotted problems in summer 2020 and raised their concerns with federal authorities.

“What happened with Feeding Our Future was a travesty — a coordinated, brazen abuse of nutrition programs that exist to ensure access to healthy meals for low-income children,” the commissioner wrote. “The responsibility for this flagrant fraud lies with the indicted and convicted fraudsters.”

But Republican legislative leaders said the report shows that the failure to stop the fraud lies with the administration of Democratic Gov. Tim Walz, which has said that the state’s hands were tied by a 2021 court order to resume payments despite its concerns, and that the FBI asked the state to continue making payments while the investigation continued.

“This was something that they should have been picking up on. They had the authority to do so, but they didn’t do that. This is stunning,” GOP Senate Minority Leader Mark Johnson, of East Grand Forks, said at a news conference. “The Department of Education and Gov. Walz have repeatedly tried to tell the public that they did all they could … but this report clearly demonstrates that was a false narrative.”

Jett, who was appointed commissioner in January 2023 amid the fallout, said his agency has implemented changes to strengthen its oversight capabilities, including establishing an office of inspector general in 2023, adding a general counsel’s office in 2022, providing training to all staff on its updated fraud-reporting policies, and contracting with a firm to conduct financial reviews of certain partners.

Federal prosecutors say the conspiracy exploited rules that were kept lax so the economy wouldn’t crash during the pandemic. The FBI began digging into it in spring 2021. The defendants allegedly produced invoices for meals never served, ran shell companies, laundered money, indulged in passport fraud and accepted kickbacks. More than $250 million in federal funds was taken in the Minnesota scheme overall, and only about $50 million of it has been recovered, authorities say.

The food aid came from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and was administered by the state agency, which funneled the meal money through partners including Feeding Our Future. The defendants awaiting trial include Aimee Bock, the founder of Feeding our Future. She has maintained her innocence, saying she never stole and saw no evidence of fraud among her subcontractors.

An Associated Press analysis published last June documented how thieves across the country plundered billions in federal COVID-19 relief dollars. Fraudsters potentially stole more than $280 billion, while an additional $123 billion was wasted or misspent. Combined, the loss represented 10% of the $4.3 trillion the government disbursed by last fall. Nearly 3,200 people have been charged and about $1.4 billion in stolen pandemic aid has been seized, according to the Justice Department.

JUNE 7, 2024:

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A jury reached a verdict Friday (June 7, 2024) in the case against seven Minnesota residents accused in a scheme to steal more than $40 million that was supposed to feed children during the pandemic. The case has received widespread attention after someone tried to bribe a juror with a bag of $120,000 in cash.

U.S. District Judge Nancy Brasel dismissed that juror before deliberations began, as well as another juror who was told about the bribe attempt. An FBI investigation of the attempted bribe continues, with no arrests announced.

Defense attorneys argued that the defendants provided real meals to real people.

Jurors, prosecutors, defendants and the judge are convening in court to hear the jury’s decision.

JUNE 6, 2024:

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A jury has ended a second day of deliberations without reaching a verdict in the trial of seven Minnesotans accused of exploiting the COVID-19 pandemic to steal more than $40 million meant to feed children. Attention has focused on the case after someone tried to bribe a juror with a gift bag holding $120,000 in cash. The FBI confiscated the defendants’ cellphones to look for clues and took all seven into custody as the trial ended. A neighbor of one of the defendants also saw FBI agents raid the man’s home Wednesday (June 5, 2024). The juror who reported the bribe attempt was dismissed, along with another who learned about it. These are the first of 70 defendants to be tried in what federal prosecutors describe as one of the nation’s largest COVID-19-related fraud cases.

JUNE 4, 2024:

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Authorities in Minnesota have confiscated cellphones and taken all seven defendants into custody as investigators try to determine who attempted to bribe a juror with a bag of cash containing $120,000 to get her to acquit them on charges of stealing more than $40 million from a program meant to feed children during the pandemic. The case went to the jury late Monday afternoon (June 3, 2024), after the 23-year-old juror, who promptly reported the attempted bribe to police, was dismissed and replaced with an alternate. A second juror was replaced Tuesday morning after a family member mentioned the bribe attempt. The seven defendants are the first of 70 expected to be tried in a conspiracy that cost taxpayers $250 million. It is one of the nation’s largest pandemic-related fraud cases.

JUNE 3, 2024:

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A juror was dismissed from a multimillion-dollar fraud trial on Monday (June 3, 2024) after reporting that a woman dropped a bag of $120,000 cash at her home over the weekend. She said the woman left it with a message saying she would get still more money if she voted to acquit seven people charged with stealing more than $40 million from a program meant to feed children during the pandemic. These seven are the first of 70 defendants expected to be tried in a conspiracy that cost taxpayers $250 million. It’s one of the nation’s largest pandemic-related fraud cases. Prosecutor Joseph Thompson said the bag of cash seems like “stuff that happens in mob movies.”

APRIL 29, 2024:

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Seven Minnesotans accused of fraud are set to stand trial in what prosecutors call a massive scheme to exploit lax rules during the COVID-19 pandemic and steal from a program meant to provide meals to low-income children. Opening statements are expected Monday (April 29, 2024). They are the first of 70 defendants to go on trial in what’s known as the Feeding Our Future investigation. Eighteen others have already pleaded guilty. The seven are accused of collectively stealing over $40 million in what prosecutors say was a conspiracy that cost taxpayers $250 million. Authorities have called it one of the largest pandemic-related fraud cases in the country.

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MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Opening statements are expected Monday (April 29, 2024) in the fraud trial of seven people charged in what federal prosecutors have called a massive scheme to exploit lax rules during the COVID-19 pandemic and steal from a program meant to provide meals to children in Minnesota.

The seven will be the first of 70 defendants to go on trial in the alleged scam. Eighteen others have already pleaded guilty.

Prosecutors have said the seven collectively stole over $40 million in a conspiracy that cost taxpayers $250 million — one of the largest pandemic-related fraud cases in the country. Federal authorities say they have recovered about $50 million.

Prosecutors say just a fraction of the money went to feed low-income kids, and that the rest was spent on luxury cars, jewelry, travel and property.

THE ALLEGED PLOT
The food aid came from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and was administered by the state Department of Education. Nonprofits and other partners under the program were supposed to serve meals to kids.

Two of the groups involved, Feeding Our Future and Partners in Nutrition, were small nonprofits before the pandemic, but in 2021 they disbursed around $200 million each. Prosecutors allege they produced invoices for meals that were never served, ran shell companies, laundered money, indulged in passport fraud, and accepted kickbacks.

THE BIG PICTURE
An Associated Press analysis published last June documented how thieves across the country plundered billions in federal COVID-19 relief dollars in the greatest grift in U.S. history. The money was meant to fight the worst pandemic in a century and stabilize an economy in freefall.

But the AP found that fraudsters potentially stole more than $280 billion, while another $123 billion was wasted or misspent. Combined, the loss represented 10% of the $4.3 trillion the government disbursed in COVID relief by last fall. Nearly 3,200 defendants have been charged, according to the U.S. Justice Department. About $1.4 billion in stolen pandemic aid has been seized.

THIS CASE
The defendants going on trial Monday before U.S. District Judge Nancy Brasel in Minneapolis are Abdiaziz Shafii Farah; Mohamed Jama Ismail; Abdimajid Mohamed Nur; Said Shafii Farah; Abdiwahab Maalim Aftin; Mukhtar Mohamed Shariff; and Hayat Mohamed Nur. They have all pleaded not guilty. Their trial is expected to last around six weeks.

“The defendants’ fraud, like an aggressive cancer, spread and grew,” prosecutors wrote in a summary of their case.

Prosecutors say many of the purported feeding sites were nothing more than parking lots and derelict commercial spaces. Others turned out to be city parks, apartment complexes and community centers.

“By the time the defendants’ scheme was exposed in early 2022, they collectively claimed to have served over 18 million meals from 50 unique locations for which they fraudulently sought reimbursement of $49 million from the Federal Child Nutrition Program,” prosecutors wrote.

FUTURE CASES
Among the defendants awaiting trial is Aimee Bock, the founder of Feeding our Future. She’s one of 14 defendants expected to face trial together at a later date. Bock has maintained her innocence, saying she never stole and saw no evidence of fraud among her subcontractors.

THE POLITICS
The scandal stirred up the 2022 legislative session and campaign in Minnesota.

Republicans attacked Gov. Tim Walz, saying he should have stopped the fraud earlier. But Walz pushed back, saying the state’s hands were tied by a court order in a lawsuit by Feeding Our Future to resume payments despite its concerns. He said the FBI asked the state to continue the payments while the investigation continued.

The Minnesota Department of Education now has an independent inspector general who is better empowered to investigate fraud and waste.

MARCH 14, 2023:

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Ten more people have been charged in connection with a scheme to steal more than $250 million from a federal program designed to provide meals to low-income children in Minnesota. A total of 60 people have now been charged. The indictments allege that a Minnesota nonprofit called Feeding Our Future was at the center of the plot. Minnesota U.S. Attorney Andy Luger said in September that the conspiracy was the largest pandemic-related fraud scheme to date. On Monday (March 13, 2023), he said that six people have pleaded guilty so far, more information is coming about who organized the scheme, and more charges are expected.

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A total of 60 people have now been charged in the conspiracy, in which authorities say a group of people took advantage of rules that were relaxed during the COVID-19 pandemic and falsely claimed they were providing food to children. Minnesota U.S. Attorney Andy Luger said in September that the conspiracy was the largest pandemic-related fraud scheme to date.

At a Monday news conference, Luger said six people have pleaded guilty so far, and more information is coming about who organized the scheme.

“Our investigation continues, and we expect more charges in the future,” Luger said.

At the center of the plot, the indictments allege, was a Minnesota nonprofit called Feeding Our Future.

Prosecutors said just a fraction of the money went toward feeding kids, with the rest laundered through shell companies and spent on property, luxury cars and travel.

The money came from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, with oversight from state governments. In Minnesota, the funds were administered by the state Department of Education, with meals historically provided to kids through schools and day care centers. Sites that served the food were sponsored by authorized public or nonprofit groups.

Some standard program requirements were relaxed during the COVID-19 pandemic; for-profit restaurants were allowed to participate, and food was allowed to be distributed outside educational programs.

Luger said in September that a small group of people came up with the plan to exploit the relaxed rules and steal tens of millions of dollars by falsely claiming they were providing food to children. Others soon joined, and the scheme grew, Luger said.

On Monday, Luger said the defendants allegedly operated fraudulent food sites all around the state, including Pelican Rapids, Faribault, Burnsville, Minnetonka, Bloomington, Minneapolis and St. Paul.

He highlighted an indictment against a woman who claimed to serve 2,560 meals a day to children in Pelican Rapids, a town with a total population of only 2,500 people. The woman obtained about $3.7 million from the fraudulent sites she operated, Luger said.

Luger added that federal prosecutors in September had seized about $50 million worth of property fraudulently obtained by the defendants. “That number is over $66.6 million now — and climbing,” he said.

Republican lawmakers have said Gov. Tim Walz and Attorney General Keith Ellison, both Democrats, missed opportunities to use their investigative powers to stop the fraud earlier.

The governor replied that the federal government relaxed its rules when it sent COVID-19 aid to the states — “as they should have” — and that his administration alerted the FBI when it discovered the fraud.

“Now it’s an ongoing investigation. I guess we’ll get more clarity,” Walz said in October, before he and Ellison won re-election the following month.

SEPTEMBER 27, 2022:

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Republicans have attacked Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, after a judge took the rare public step of disputing the administration’s claim that the judge prevented it from cutting off payments to Feeding Our Future. The nonprofit is the target of a $250 million federal fraud case. The GOP candidates for Minnesota governor, attorney general and state auditor said Monday (Sept. 26, 2022) that Walz and other top Democrats should have done more to stop the alleged fraud in its early stages, before it became what federal prosecutors have called the largest pandemic-related fraud scheme in the country.

SEPTEMBER 20, 2022:

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Federal authorities have charged 48 people in what they’re calling the largest fraud scheme yet to take advantage of the COVID-19 pandemic by stealing and defrauding the government of $250 million. Documents made public Tuesday (Sept. 20, 2022) charge the defendants with counts including conspiracy, wire fraud, money laundering and bribery. Prosecutors say the defendants created companies that claimed to be offering food to thousands of low-income children across Minnesota, then sought reimbursement through a federal program. But prosecutors say few meals were actually served, and the defendants used the money to buy luxury cars, property and jewelry. This year, the U.S. Justice Department has made prosecuting pandemic-related fraud a priority and has stepped up enforcement actions.

Extended version:

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — United States authorities charged 48 people in Minnesota with conspiracy and other counts in what they said Tuesday was the largest pandemic-related fraud scheme yet, stealing $250 million from a federal program that provides meals to low-income children.

Federal prosecutors say the defendants created companies that claimed to be offering food to tens of thousands of children across Minnesota, then sought reimbursement for those meals through the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s food nutrition programs. Prosecutors say few meals were actually served, and the defendants used the money to buy luxury cars, property and jewelry.

“This $250 million is the floor,” Andy Luger, the U.S. attorney for Minnesota, said at a news conference. “Our investigation continues.”

Many of the companies that claimed to be serving food were sponsored by a nonprofit called Feeding Our Future, which submitted the companies’ claims for reimbursement. Feeding Our Future’s founder and executive director, Aimee Bock, was among those indicted, and authorities say she and others in her organization submitted the fraudulent claims for reimbursement and received kickbacks.

Bock’s attorney, Kenneth Udoibok, said the indictment “doesn’t indicate guilt or innocence.” He said he wouldn’t comment further until seeing the indictment.

In interviews after law enforcement searched multiple sites in January, including Bock’s home and offices, Bock denied stealing money and said she never saw evidence of fraud.

Earlier this year, the U.S. Department of Justice made prosecuting pandemic-related fraud a priority. The department has already taken enforcement actions related to more than $8 billion in suspected pandemic fraud, including bringing charges in more than 1,000 criminal cases involving losses in excess of $1.1 billion.

Federal officials repeatedly described the alleged fraud as “brazen,” and decried that it involved a program intended to feed children who needed help during the pandemic. Michael Paul, special agent in charge of the Minneapolis FBI office, called it “an astonishing display of deceit.”

Luger said the government was billed for more than 125 million fake meals, with some defendants making up names for children by using an online random name generator. He displayed one form for reimbursement that claimed a site served exactly 2,500 meals each day Monday through Friday — with no children ever getting sick or otherwise missing from the program.

“These children were simply invented,” Luger said.

He said the government has so far recovered $50 million in money and property and expects to recover more.

The defendants in Minnesota face multiple counts, including conspiracy, wire fraud, money laundering and bribery. Luger said some of them were arrested Tuesday morning. Authorities announced 47 indictments at the news conference. A 48th person, who according to a criminal complaint was scheduled to board a one-way flight to Ethiopia on Tuesday evening, was arrested sometime after the prosecutors’ press conference.

According to court documents, the alleged scheme targeted the USDA’s federal child nutrition programs, which provide food to low-income children and adults. In Minnesota, the funds are administered by the state Department of Education, and meals have historically been provided to kids through educational programs, such as schools or day care centers.

The sites that serve the food are sponsored by public or nonprofit groups, such as Feeding Our Future. The sponsoring agency keeps 10% to 15% of the reimbursement funds as an administrative fee in exchange for submitting claims, sponsoring the sites and disbursing the funds.

But during the pandemic, some of the standard requirements for sites to participate in the federal food nutrition programs were waived. The USDA allowed for-profit restaurants to participate, and allowed food to be distributed outside educational programs. The charging documents say the defendants exploited such changes “to enrich themselves.”

The documents say Bock oversaw the scheme and that she and Feeding Our Future sponsored the opening of nearly 200 federal child nutrition program sites throughout the state, knowing that the sites intended to submit fraudulent claims.

“The sites fraudulently claimed to be serving meals to thousands of children a day within just days or weeks of being formed and despite having few, if any staff and little to no experience serving this volume of meals,” according to the indictments.

One example described a small storefront restaurant in Willmar, in west-central Minnesota, that typically served only a few dozen people a day. Two defendants offered the owner $40,000 a month to use his restaurant, then billed the government for some 1.6 million meals through 11 months of 2021, according to one indictment. They listed the names of around 2,000 children — nearly half of the local school district’s total enrollment — and only 33 names matched actual students, the indictment said.

Feeding Our Future received nearly $18 million in federal child nutrition program funds as administrative fees in 2021 alone, and Bock and other employees received additional kickbacks, which were often disguised as “consulting fees” paid to shell companies, the charging documents said.

According to an FBI affidavit unsealed earlier this year, Feeding Our Future received $307,000 in reimbursements from the USDA in 2018, $3.45 million in 2019 and $42.7 million in 2020. The amount of reimbursements jumped to $197.9 million in 2021.

Court documents say the Minnesota Department of Education was growing concerned about the rapid increase in the number of sites sponsored by Feeding Our Future, as well as the increase in reimbursements.

The department began scrutinizing Feeding Our Future’s site applications more carefully, and denied dozens of them. In response, Bock sued the department in November 2020, alleging discrimination, saying the majority of her sites were based in immigrant communities. That case has since been dismissed.

A third defendant pleads guilty to juror bribery in massive Minnesota food fraud case

Story Body

The big picture

The defense

The bribe

The political repercussions

Story Body

The big picture

The defense

The bribe

The political repercussions

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