IRS agent testifies about ‘peculiar’ names in food distribution sites in Feeding Our Future trial

Three children all named “John Doe” allegedly received free food. So did a child named “Friday Donations,” month after month. And a child named “Getsaname Hester” was listed more than a dozen times in attendance rosters at food distribution sites run by defendants in the first Feeding Our Future trial.

None of those names matched the names of students enrolled at 20 public school districts across Minnesota, an IRS special agent, Joshua Parks, testified Monday in the high-profile criminal trial of seven defendants with ties to a Shakopee restaurant.

“It would appear the rosters are being replicated,” Parks said.

On Monday, the start of the fourth week of testimony, Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Ebert questioned Parks about the “peculiar” names in rosters that defendants submitted to receive federal reimbursements totaling about $40 million for feeding kids in need.

Prosecutors have called more than 30 witnesses to make their case that defendants defrauded the federal government in a get-rich scheme, stealing money for programs meant to reimburse schools, day cares and nonprofits for feeding low-income kids after school and in the summer.

Instead of feeding kids, prosecutors allege, the defendants grossly inflated the number of meals they claimed to serve and submitted phony invoices and attendance rosters to receive millions of dollars that they then spent on luxury homes, cars and jewelry.

The seven defendants are the first to go to trial out of 70 people charged in the sprawling case, which prosecutors have called one of the largest pandemic-related fraud cases in the country, totaling more than $250 million. Of the 70 people, 18 have pleaded guilty.

Defendants Said Shafii Farah, Abdiaziz Shafii Farah, Mohamed Jama Ismail, Abdimajid Mohamed Nur, Abdiwahab Maalim Aftin, Mukhtar Mohamed Shariff and Hayat Mohamed Nur have been charged with wire fraud, money laundering and other crimes. They have ties to Empire Cuisine and Market in Shakopee, which was overseen by the St. Anthony nonprofit Feeding Our Future and St. Paul nonprofit Partners in Nutrition.

No defense attorneys cross examined Parks on Monday, but they previously have argued that there’s no evidence their clients committed a crime, saying that they didn’t need to check students’ IDs and instead used a clicker to count the number of people who arrived to pick up meals.

On Monday, Ebert showed the jury pages and pages of kids’ names, listed in the same order, reportedly receiving free meals every week, month after month. He questioned Parks on odd names, including “Serious Problem,” “Inactive,” and “Angel Albino” on attendance rosters, none of which Parks said matched public school enrollment data but they showed up repeatedly in rosters.

“I thought that was significant,” Parks said, adding that he assumed the lists wouldn’t match every day because a child may be out sick or on vacation. “I wouldn’t expect a child to attend every single week.”

Parks testified he reviewed more than 120 rosters from defendants’ food distribution sites and compared that with 193,000 students enrolled in 20 public school districts nearby — from Minneapolis and Mankato to St. Paul and St. Cloud. Those school district lists often matched defendants’ food distribution sites’ rosters less than 10% of the time.

Parks said he also compared rosters from different food sites across the Twin Cities, several of which showed the same kids receiving snacks and suppers at the same time. For instance, attendance rosters for food sites at an Apple Valley park and a Bloomington mosque had about 700 identical names.

In Faribault, about 13% of the names at a food site roster matched school district records. In Shakopee, less than 3% of the names defendants listed as having been served matched school data. While in the north metro, at a park on the border of Lexington and Circle Pines closed for construction, where defendants allegedly served 2,505 children, seven Centennial School District students’ names matched.

In Bloomington, four of 999 names on defendants’ roster matched Bloomington public schools’ list of more than 10,000 students, Parks said.

“It was significant,” Parks said. “Four out of 999 was surprising.”

Witnesses have said they saw few, if any, meal distributions at the defendants’ sites. Defense attorneys have argued that families from elsewhere in Minnesota could pick up a bag with seven days’ worth of free food, which is why school district rosters may not match food sites’ lists and why the number of meals doled out rose rapidly.

Defense attorneys have said their clients navigated a complex federal program with quickly changing rules during the pandemic, that they served real food to real kids, and earned a fair profit as for-profit businesses.

Parks was questioned Monday after another IRS agent wrapped up his testimony and two bank representatives testified about checks received and sent by defendants. Testimony in the trial, which started April 22, continues Tuesday.