AG says founder of Brooklyn Center food bank misused charity funds

The attorney general’s office has barred the director of a Brooklyn Center food bank from running nonprofit organizations in Minnesota after investigators uncovered about $42,000 in misused funds.

Edmund Ocansey founded small nonprofit West African Family and Community Services (WAFCS) about 10 years ago. A settlement agreement announced Wednesday requires him to reimburse the money in monthly installments until 2030.

He improperly used the charity’s funds to buy himself fast food, pay car expenses and shop, according to Attorney General Keith Ellison.

In a statement, Ellison called the mission of the nonprofit, which provides culturally specific food to community members of West African descent, an “important cause.”

He said the organization “failed to properly control and protect their charitable assets, which is both a violation of the law and of the public’s trust.”

Ocansey declined to comment through his attorney, Jennifer Urban, who shared a statement on behalf of WAFCS saying the organization remains “a critical provider” in its community.

According to the organization, WAFCS' food shelf serves about 600 families per month, offering food and “other essential resources.”

“WAFCS will continue to meet these needs,” the organization said in a statement, adding its board of directors “is interceding at this difficult time to enact better processes” to strengthen community trust.

In August 2021, a program volunteer alerted the attorney general’s office to concerns about Ocansey, specifically misuse of assets.

An investigation then uncovered that in addition to directing the program, Ocansey had served as the organization’s board chair from the time of its founding. Between 2016 and 2024, the investigators found, Ocansey had used the charity’s money to make purchases as well as write checks to himself and his family members.

The misuse of charity funds persisted as Ocansey had “unfettered access” to the organization’s money, the attorney general’s office said in a legal filing. Specific purchases included clothes, dental work, sporting goods and $3,573 to buy a car for his son.

Urban, the lawyer, said the settlement agreement still needed a judge’s approval.

In a 2017 interview, Ocansey, a Ghanaian immigrant then in his early 50s, said he started the program after he noticed support agencies in the Twin Cities appeared to cater more to the needs of East Africans.

He said having foods available to recent immigrants helps them adjust. The organization also offered educational services to those unfamiliar with U.S. law. And, while designed to help West Africans, Ocansey said at the time the organization would help others in need, too.

“Our goal is to help everybody be self-sufficient,” Ocansey said.

The volunteer-driven service program had operated from the Brooklyn United Methodist Church at Brooklyn Boulevard and Noble Avenue N. A pastor for the church did not immediately respond to a message left with a receptionist Wednesday afternoon.