Bloomington nonprofit leader tied to Feeding Our Future agrees to step down

After a grand jury charged Ayan Abukar a year ago in a federal fraud case tied to Feeding Our Future, she remained involved in her nonprofit, even pressuring an employee to alter past financial transactions “to help with my case,” the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office says.

The office filed an order in Hennepin County District Court on Friday stipulating that Abukar’s nonprofit, Action for East African People, sever ties with her and one of her daughters, who had been the nonprofit’s treasurer and secretary.

Abukar, 42, of Bloomington, founded the nonprofit in 2017 to help East African women and children; it operates Action Care Community Clinic, a dental clinic in Bloomington that serves low-income patients.

In the Feeding Our Future fraud case, a grand jury charged Abukar last March with defrauding the government in an after-school food program for low-income children. Prosecutors allege she submitted fraudulent invoices and fake attendance rosters, claiming to serve more than 3 million meals to children in just over a year.

Prosecutors say only a fraction of the meals was served, and much of the $5.8 million in U.S. Department of Agriculture funds given to Action for East African People went to personally enrich her, her family members and co-conspirators.

Abukar pleaded not guilty last March. Neither she nor her attorney could be reached for comment Friday. Her daughter hasn’t been charged, so the Star Tribune isn’t naming her.

After the charges were announced, the state Attorney General’s charities division, which regulates charities that solicit donations in Minnesota, began an independent investigation of Action for East African People.

The office can pursue civil cases for nonprofits violating state charitable giving laws, not enforce criminal laws. Last year, the office sought to shut down 23 nonprofits tied to Feeding Our Future.

In this civil case, the settlement allows the “important work of the dental clinic” to continue serving people in need, Attorney General Keith Ellison said in a statement.

However, he said, the clinic will be separated from the “bad actors that took advantage of their organization and the community it is supposed to serve.”

The nonprofit agreed to remove Abukar, who the Attorney General’s Office said continued to serve as executive director after being charged, and her daughter, who served on its board. The settlement was signed by board chair Abdullahi Haji Somo.

“We think a lot of the information that’s in the Attorney General’s allegations is wrong,” said Jason Steck, the nonprofit’s attorney who also represents several other defendants in the federal case.

“We believe it’s in the best interest of the clinic to enter into this settlement agreement and that’s why we did it. The clinic provides an important service for the community [and] provides dental services to a very underserved community.”

He said Abukar no longer has a position with the nonprofit but declined to answer how she stayed involved after she was charged. Steck said Somo now runs the organization.

Action for East African People was sponsored in the meals program by Feeding Our Future, a St. Anthony nonprofit at the center of the $250 million fraud scheme. It also was sponsored by Partners in Nutrition of St. Paul, which oversaw several organizations tied to the scheme, though no one affiliated with it as been charged.

Since the first charges were announced in September 2022, 70 people connected to Feeding Our Future have been charged; 17 have pleaded guilty. The first trial is slated to start April 22. Abukar’s trial has not yet been scheduled.

Federal prosecutors say Abukar diverted millions of dollars to shell companies to launder and benefit herself, including buying a $1.5 million 37-acre property in Lakeville and a plane in Nairobi. They say other funds were spent on her family.

The Attorney General’s Office says $725,000 was transferred to MN Food Grocery LLC, a business owned by Abukar’s son, and $253,000 was transferred to Dimespeak, a corporation started by her daughter.

The Attorney General’s Office said the nonprofit also paid Abukar’s family members through “contractor payments,” including to two daughters and her sister. The board was largely unengaged, so the lack of oversight allowed mismanagement and fraud to continue, the Attorney General’s Office wrote. After Abukar was indicted, she pressured the clinic manager to change financial records to “consulting” fees to help her case, according to the Attorney General’s Office.

The nonprofit violated a number of state laws, including failing to file or register annual reports. The settlement agreement requires the nonprofit to bolster oversight by training board members and reviewing its policies and procedures, among other measures.