A Brooklyn Park woman is the latest defendant in the sprawling Feeding Our Future case to plead guilty to defrauding the federal government, admitting that she gave out a fraction of the more than 1 million meals she claimed to serve to children in need.
Brooklyn Park woman pleads guilty in Feeding Our Future case
Filsan M. Hassan could face about three years in prison.
December 9, 2023 at 3:46AM
Filsan Mumin Hassan pleaded guilty Thursday in federal court to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering. Hassan, who was 28 when she pleaded not guilty in September 2022, could face about three years in prison.
Prosecutors have charged 60 people in the case, all tied to the St. Anthony nonprofit Feeding Our Future. Prosecutors allege that more than $250 million meant to reimburse nonprofits for feeding children in need was stolen and spent on lavish homes, cars and trips.
In a half-hour hearing Thursday, Hassan changed her plea. She had claimed to operate from 2020 to 2022 a nonprofit called Youth Higher Educational Achievement, which listed a St. Cloud address and said it distributed meals to children in need in Brooklyn Park and New Hope.
Prosecutors said she claimed to dole out 2,500 to 4,388 meals a day seven days a week during the COVID-19 pandemic, but only served a fraction of those meals.
Prosecutors said Hassan grossly inflated meal counts by submitting fraudulent attendance rosters with random names generated from a website and inaccurate invoices. In all of 2021, Hassan claimed to have served more than 1 million meals and was reimbursed $2.6 million by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, according to court documents.
A representative for Hassan's attorney declined to comment Friday. Her sentencing hearing hasn't yet been scheduled.
The pilot was the only person inside the plane, and was not injured in the emergency landing, according to the State Patrol.
