The U.S. Attorney's office announced the first charges in September in the Feeding Our Future case. Prosecutors say the more than $250 million fraud scheme is the largest pandemic-related fraud in the country and one of the largest federal fraud cases ever brought in Minnesota.
These are the defendants charged in the Feeding Our Future fraud case
March 13, 2023 at 5:36PM
Prosecutors allege millions of dollars meant to reimburse meals for children in need during the COVID-19 pandemic instead enriched participants. Fifty people were charged in 2022 with crimes ranging from wire fraud to federal programs bribery and money laundering. In March of 2023, an additional ten were charged. (Ages are from time of charges.)
- Aimee Marie Bock, 41, of Apple Valley was the founder and executive director of Feeding Our Future. Prosecutors accused her of overseeing the fraud scheme. She has pleaded not guilty.
- Abdikerm Abdelahi Eidleh, 39, of Burnsville, worked for Feeding Our Future and is accused of soliciting and receiving bribes and kickbacks from sites Feeding Our Future sponsored. According to court documents, agents believe Eidleh fled the country and was in Mogadishu, Somalia.
- Salim Ahmed Said, 33, of Plymouth, owns and operates Safari Restaurant in Minneapolis, one of the largest Feeding Our Future sites, which received more than $16 million.
- Abdulkadir Nur Salah, 36, of Columbia Heights, also owned and operated Safari Restaurant. Salah pleaded not guilty.
- Ahmed Sharif Omar-Hashim, 39, of Minneapolis, created Olive Management Inc., which prosecutors say received about $5 million in federal funds.
- Abdi Nur Salah, 34, of Minneapolis, registered Stigma-Free International, which claimed to serve meals in Willmar, Mankato, St. Cloud, Waite Park and other sites across the state. He was also a former senior aide to Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey until Feb. 17, 2022, after the FBI investigation became public. His attorney said "guilt by association is not a crime." He pleaded not guilty.
- Abdihakim Ali Ahmed, 36, of Apple Valley, created ASA Limited LLC, which prosecutors say received $5 million in federal funds.
- Ahmed Mohamed Artan, 37, of Minneapolis, also registered Stigma-Free International and pleaded not guilty.
- Abdikadir Ainanshe Mohamud, 30, of Fridley, ran the Stigma-Free Willmar site, which claimed to serve 1.6 million meals and received more than $4 million in federal funds. The Star Tribune visited the Willmar site and found that few people had seen any evidence of meal distributions.
- Abdinasir Mahamed Abshir, 30, of Minneapolis, ran a Stigma-Free Mankato site that claimed to serve more than 1.6 million meals and received $5 million in federal funds. He pleaded not guilty.
- Asad Mohamed Abshir, 32, of Mankato, also ran the Stigma-Free Mankato site.
- Hamdi Hussein Omar, 26, of St. Paul, ran the Stigma-Free Waite Park site, which claimed to serve more than 500,000 meals and received $1 million in federal funds.
- Ahmed Abdullahi Ghedi, 32, of Minneapolis, created ASA Limited LLC, which received $5 million in federal funds.
- Abdirahman Mohamud Ahmed, 54, of Columbus, Ohio, also owned and operated Safari Restaurant.
- Abdiaziz Shafii Farah, 33, of Savage, owned and operated Empire Cuisine and Market LLC in Shakopee, which received more than $28 million. He was arrested and charged with making a false statement on a passport application after he applied for a new passport. FBI agents had raided his home in January and seized his passport. He pleaded not guilty.
- Mohamed Jama Ismail, 49, of Savage, also owned and operated Empire Cuisine and Market LLC. He was arrested at the airport before a flight to Nairobi, Kenya and pleaded guilty in July to making false statements when applying for a new passport after FBI agents seized his passport.
- Mahad Ibrahim, 46, of Lewis Center, Ohio, owned ThinkTechAct Foundation, also known as Mind Foundry Learning Foundation, which created dozens of sites throughout Minnesota and received more than $18 million. Ibrahim pleaded not guilty.
- Abdimajid Mohamed Nur, 21, of Shakopee, created Nur Consulting LLC, which prosecutors say received money from Empire Cuisine and Market and other entities.
- Said Shafii Farah, 40, of Minneapolis, owned Bushra Wholesalers LLC, which prosecutors say was a shell company to launder money. Farah pleaded not guilty.
- Abdiwahab Maalim Aftin, 32, of Minneapolis, also owned Bushra Wholesalers LLC.Aftin pleaded not guilty.
- Mukhtar Mohamed Shariff, 31, of Bloomington, was CEO of Afrique Hospitality Group, which prosecutors say was a shell company to launder money. Shariff pleaded not guilty.
- Hayat Mohamed Nur, 25, of Eden Prairie, created and submitted fraudulent meal count sheets, attendance rosters and invoices, prosecutors say.
- Qamar Ahmed Hassan, 53, of Brooklyn Park, owned and operated S&S Catering Inc., which received more than $18 million.She pleaded not guilty.
- Sahra Mohamed Nur, 61, of St. Anthony, ran a site called Academy For Youth Excellence that worked with S&S Catering. Nur pleaded not guilty.
- Abdiwahab Ahmed Mohamud, 32, of Brooklyn Park, ran a site called Academy For Youth Excellence that worked with S&S Catering.
- Filsan Mumin Hassan, 28, of Brooklyn Park, ran Youth Higher Educational Achievement that prosecutors say falsely claimed to serve up to 4,300 meals a day. She pleaded not guilty.
- Guhaad Hashi Said, 46, of Minneapolis, ran Advance Youth Athletic Development, which claimed to serve up to 5,000 meals a day. Said pleaded not guilty.
- Abdullahe Nur Jesow, 62, of Columbia Heights, ran Academy For Youth Excellence.
- Abdul Abubakar Ali, 40, of St. Paul, ran Youth Inventors Lab, which prosecutors say falsely claimed to serve about 1.3 million meals in seven months. He initially pleaded not guilty and changed his plea Oct. 26, pleading guilty and agreeing to pay $122,000 in restitution.
- Yusuf Bashir Ali, 40, of Vadnais Heights, also ran Youth Inventors Lab and pleaded not guilty.
- Haji Osman Salad, 32, of St. Anthony, was a principal of Haji's Kitchen, which got $11.6 million. He pleaded not guilty.
- Fahad Nur, 38, of Minneapolis, was the principal of The Produce LLC, a vendor that received more than $5 million. According to the indictment, Nur fled the U.S. about a week after FBI agents publicly revealed their investigation.
- Anab Artan Awad, 52, of Plymouth, was the president of Multiple Community Services, MCA, which received more than $11 million. She initially pleaded not guilty, but changed her plea in November.
- Sharmarke Issa, 40, of Edina, was the manager of Wacan Restaurant LLC.He chaired the Minneapolis Public Housing Authority and resigned in February.
- Farhiya Mohamud, 63, of Bloomington, was the principal and CEO of Dua Supplies and Distribution Inc., which prosecutors say was a shell company that laundered millions of dollars.
- Liban Yasin Alishire, 42, of Brooklyn Park, was the owner of Community Enhancement Services, Inc., which received more than $1.6 million, and pleaded not guilty.
- Ahmed Yasin Ali, 57, of Brooklyn Park, created a program site run by Lake Street Kitchen.
- Khadar Jigre Adan, 59, of Lakeville, was CEO of Lake Street Kitchen and pleaded not guilty..
- Sharmake Jama, 34, of Rochester, was a principal of Brava Restaurant and Café LLC, which got about $4.3 million.
- Ayan Jama, 43, of Rochester, was a principal of Brava Restaurant and Café LLC, and pleaded not guilty.
- Asha Jama, 39, of Lakeville, worked for Brava Restaurant.
- Fartun Jama, 35, of Rosemount, worked for Brava Restaurant.
- Mustafa Jama, 45, of Rochester, worked at Brava Restaurant.
- Zamzam Jama, 48, of Rochester, worked for Brava Restaurant.
- Bekam Addissu Merdassa, 39, of Inver Grove Heights, pleaded guilty in October, admitting he used Youth Inventors Lab as a "shell company" and submitted fake invoices to buy food from S&S Catering. He agreed to pay $343,086 in restitution.
- Hadith Yusuf Ahmed, 34, of Eden Prairie was a Feeding Our Future employee responsible for monitoring sites. He pleaded guilty in October, admitting he operated a "pay to play" system that required kickbacks from sites and creating an LLC to disguise the kickbacks as "consultant fees." He admitted to creating a business claiming to serve 2,000 meals a day in Eden Prairie, but served "nowhere near" that number of meals.
- Hanna Marekegn, 40, of Edina, owned Brava Café in Minneapolis. She pleaded guilty in October, admitting her business received $7.1 million and falsely claimed to serve more than 4,000 meals a day. She admitted to fabricating invoices and paying $150,000 in kickbacks, but testified that Feeding Our Future terminated her contract when she refused to pay additional kickbacks. She said in a February interview that she was asked for the kickback to "just do like everyone else is doing." She agreed to pay $5.1 million in restitution.
- Mekfira Hussein, 38 of Shakopee, ran Shamsia Hopes, a Brooklyn Center nonprofit that prosecutors say claimed to serve more than 3.4 million meals in 2020 and 2021, and received about $7.8 million. She was charged in September and indicted by a grand jury in October on charges of federal programs bribery. Her attorney said she was scammed by a Feeding Our Future employee who submitted fraudulent invoices that appeared to be from her and made it look as if he was assisting her and her husband.
- Mohamed Muse Noor, 37, of Blaine, ran Xogmaal Media Group and is accused of receiving $500,000. He was arrested and charged in September, stopped by agents before a flight to Turkey. According to charges, he's the cousin of Abdikerm Abdelahi Eidleh, a Feeding Our Future employee who has also been charged. A grand jury indicted him in October and he pleaded not guilty.
- Abduljabar Hussein, 42, of Shakopee created Oromia Feeds LLC in December 2020 to supply food to Shamsia Hopes, the nonprofit run by his wife, Mekfira Hussein. He was charged in October.
