Shakopee nonprofit run by couple indicted in Feeding Our Future case agrees to dissolve

A Shakopee-based nonprofit linked to the massive Feeding Our Future food aid fraud case has agreed to dissolve amid an investigation by the Minnesota attorney general, according to recent filings in Scott County District Court.

Attorney General Keith Ellison launched its probe of Shamsia Hopes after a federal grand jury in 2022 indicted Mekfira Hussein, its founder and president, and her husband on charges including conspiracy to commit wire fraud as part of a scheme prosecutors say stole $250 million from a federal child nutrition program during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic.

According to state and federal court records, Hussein agreed to dissolve her nonprofit in Scott County a day before she and her husband, Abduljabar Hussein, pleaded not guilty in their federal criminal case.

“Minnesota nonprofit corporations are obligated by law to spend money on their mission alone, not to enrich their founders or the founders’ families,” Ellison said in a statement Tuesday. “Illegal activity like this risks eroding Minnesotans’ faith in our non-profits, which would be a genuine shame given the important work non-profits do across our state every single day. Shamsia Hopes’ misuse of charitable assets is as disappointing as it is unacceptable, and I am glad to be shutting them down.”

A message was left seeking comment from Hussein’s attorney.

Ellison’s office found that Shamsia Hopes ignored governance requirements that resulted in the misuse of assets by Hussein. The probe found that Hussein ran Shamsia Hopes “almost completely by herself” despite a state law requiring that nonprofit corporations be managed by a board of directors. Instead, she controlled Shamsia Hopes’ finances with hardly any oversight and acted as its president, secretary, treasurer and director despite being indicted in November 2022.

Ellison’s office said Hussein used nonprofit assets on a $93,250 Porsche and to pay off her and her husband’s $173,438 mortgage. They also found that she steered at least $5.4 million to Oromia Feeds LLC, a company set up by her husband – who was a vice president of Shamsia Hopes from 2015 to 2020. Oromia Feeds claimed to provide food to children at Shamsia Hopes’ sites in Brooklyn Park, Brooklyn Center, Minneapolis, and Fridley. According to the federal charges, a scant amount of the money routed to Oromia Feeds was actually spent on food despite claims by Shamsia Hopes that it served 5,000 meals to children seven days a week.

The agreement to dissolve still needs approval from a judge in Scott County. Under the agreement, Ellison’s office could still elect to bring claims against Hussein or anyone else. Shamsia Hopes would stop accepting donations and begin the dissolution process within 60 days of a judge’s approval.

Last year, state regulators revoked the license of Forever Friendship Adult Day Center in St. Paul, which was controlled by Mekfira and Abduljabar Hussein, and one other adult day-care center operated by another person charged in the federal nutrition fraud case.