Thursday March 27, 2025
MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota (HOL) — Federal prosecutors secured their latest conviction Monday in the Feeding Our Future scandal after a Minneapolis man admitted to fraudulently obtaining $7.3 million intended to feed children during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Abdihakim Ali Ahmed, 40, pleaded guilty to wire fraud and money laundering in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis. According to court records, Ahmed falsely claimed to be serving thousands of meals a day at a child nutrition site based at Gurey Deli, a small market in St. Paul, from September 2020 through January 2022.
Ahmed registered ASA Limited LLC and applied for participation in the Federal Child Nutrition Program under the sponsorship of Feeding Our Future. Prosecutors say he submitted the application alongside Aimee Bock, the nonprofit’s executive director and recently convicted ringleader of the broader $250 million scheme.
Within three weeks, ASA Limited claimed to serve 2,000 to 3,000 meals daily. Between September 2020 and September 2021, Ahmed submitted fraudulent reimbursement claims for more than 1.6 million meals.
Ahmed and his co-conspirators submitted fabricated attendance rosters that included fake names and ages. The rosters were generated using spreadsheet formulas that inserted random ages between 7 and 17 for each listed “child” in an after-school program.
Rather than feed children, prosecutors say Ahmed diverted funds through two shell companies—1130 Holdings Inc. and Five A’s Projects LLC. The money was used to buy a 2022 Mini Cooper and a Brooklyn Park restaurant, Kelly’s 19th Hole, both of which have since been seized.
Ahmed also admitted to paying over $49,000 in bribes and kickbacks to Abdikerm Eidleh, a former employee of Feeding Our Future, in exchange for facilitating ASA Limited’s participation in the federal food program. In return, Feeding Our Future collected nearly $400,000 in administrative fees. Eidleh, who authorities allege played a central role in enrolling fraudulent meal sites into the program, has been charged in connection to the scheme but remains a fugitive. He is currently wanted by federal authorities and is believed to have fled the country.
“This was a massive pay-to-play fraud scheme that exploited Minnesota and a federal program designed to help children,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Lisa D. Kirkpatrick. “We’re committed to holding these defendants accountable.”
The FBI, IRS Criminal Investigation, and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service conducted the investigation.
More than 70 people have been charged in what the FBI has described as the largest pandemic-era fraud case in the United States.
Prosecutors estimate that about $250 million was stolen through fabricated meal claims. Of that amount, $60 million in assets has been recovered.
Ahmed’s plea marks the 45th conviction in the wide-ranging case. His decision to plead guilty comes just days after the high-profile convictions of Feeding Our Future’s founder and executive director, Aimee Bock, along with her co-defendant, Salim Said. The pair were found guilty on all counts following a five-week federal trial and immediately taken into custody.
Legal analysts say the swift jury verdict in that trial may have influenced Ahmed’s plea. A similar wave of guilty pleas followed the convictions in last year’s trial, where five out of seven defendants were found guilty.
Ahmed entered his plea before U.S. District Judge Nancy E. Brasel. A sentencing date has not yet been scheduled.
