Judge allows Minnesota man convicted in Feeding Our Future case to go overseas

A man convicted in the sprawling Feeding Our Future fraud case was granted permission Wednesday to travel abroad next month so that he can sell properties in Kenya to pay restitution.

U.S. District Judge Nancy Brasel granted Liban Alishire's request to travel to Kenya for up to 30 days to sell his properties there, helping cover the $712,084 in restitution he's agreed to pay the federal government — money the Brooklyn Park man made by inflating the number of meals that he said he fed to children in need in Minneapolis.

Alishire is one of several defendants in the case who have been permitted to travel temporarily overseas.

Federal prosecutors opposed the travel motion, arguing that Alishire may not return to face sentencing, given his family ties to Kenya and the approximately four-year sentence he could face.

Brasel granted Alishire no more than 30 days for a trip to Kenya — half the time Alishire had requested — and he must stay in contact with his attorney and return his passport within 24 hours of returning to Minnesota.

Alishire is one of 60 people who have been charged since last fall in the massive food fraud scandal, accused of stealing federal aid meant to feed children in need during the pandemic. Instead, prosecutors say, they spent most or all of the money on lavish homes, cars, trips or other expenses.

Prosecutors say the more than $250 million scheme is one of the largest pandemic-related fraud investigations in the country, much of it centered around the St. Anthony nonprofit, Feeding Our Future.

Prosecutors say Alishire created a fake meal distribution company that claimed to feed hundreds of thousands of children, and he used the money to pay kickbacks to a Feeding Our Future employee and transferred funding to a shell company that he used to buy a truck, boat and real estate.

Alishire pleaded guilty in January to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering, and admitted that only a small fraction of the meals were actually served. In a plea agreement, he agreed to give up the boat, truck, a five-bedroom apartment in Nairobi and several rental units on the Kenyan coast. The proceeds from the sold properties will be applied to his restitution.

His sentencing has not been scheduled, but in his plea agreement, the sentencing guidelines ranged from 41 to 51 months.

Alishire argued in court documents that returning to Kenya, with his expertise in the local market, will draw maximum value from the properties and reassure potential buyers. His attorneys argued that Alishire isn't a flight risk, with a pretrial services report predicting a 3% chance of failing to appear. They added that their client took responsibility immediately, pleading guilty after the indictment.

"It would make no sense for him to have done any of this if he intended, a year later, to make a harebrained and futile attempt to flee," attorney Matthew Forsgren wrote in court documents.

Forsgren added that Kenya has an extradition treaty with the U.S. and Alishire's wife, two young children and businesses are in Minnesota.

His attorneys also pointed out in court documents that another Feeding Our Future defendant, who posed a much greater flight risk, was allowed to travel to Somalia and Saudi Arabia.

A third defendant, Khadar Adan, was granted approval in September by U.S. Magistrate Judge Tony Leung to leave Minnesota for seven weeks to travel to Turkey, Ethiopia and Dubai for business.