Saturday January 25, 2025
Credit: Dymanh Chhoun | Sahan Journal
MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota (HOL) — A Savage, Minnesota woman pleaded guilty on Friday to her role in defrauding a federally funded child nutrition program during the COVID-19 pandemic. The scheme is part of the nation’s largest pandemic-related fraud case, which misappropriated $250 million intended to feed underserved children.
Ayan Farah Abukar, 43, the founder of the nonprofit Action for East African People, admitted to conspiring to defraud the Federal Child Nutrition Program of $5.7 million. According to court documents, Abukar falsely claimed to serve as many as 5,000 children daily across multiple sites in Minnesota between 2020 and 2022.
Court filings reveal that Abukar paid over $330,000 in kickbacks to a Feeding Our Future employee to facilitate the fraud. The scheme exploited relaxed federal regulations designed to ensure children’s access to meals during school closures.
Instead of providing meals to children, court filings revealed that Abukar diverted the funds to enrich herself, purchasing a 37-acre commercial property in Lakeville, Minnesota, and an aircraft in Nairobi, Kenya.
The Feeding Our Future fraud case is the largest pandemic-related fraud in U.S. history. Her guilty plea is part of a multi-agency investigation including the FBI, IRS-Criminal Investigations, and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. It has already led to the indictment of 70 individuals associated with the Minnesota-based nonprofit accused of orchestrating the fraud.
Mukhtar Mohamed Shariff, a 34-year-old from Bloomington, Minnesota, received the harshest sentence to date in the Feeding Our Future fraud case when he was sentenced on Friday to 17.5 years in prison for conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering. Along with the lengthy prison term, Shariff was ordered to pay $47.9 million in restitution.
Another key figure, 51-year-old Mohamed Jama Isamli, received a 12-year sentence in October 2024 for similar charges.
The legal proceedings surrounding the Feeding Our Future case have also exposed attempts to undermine the judicial process. During a June 2024 trial, a juror reported receiving a $120,000 bribe in a Hallmark gift bag and promises of further payments in exchange for an acquittal. The juror promptly notified authorities, leading to their replacement and subsequent charges against five individuals, including three defendants from the original trial. These individuals now face charges of conspiracy, bribery, and juror tampering.
Ladan Mohamed Ali, a Seattle resident, pleaded guilty in September 2024 to delivering the bribe. Her sentencing remains pending.
The trial of Aimee Bock, the founder of Feeding Our Future, and three co-defendants is scheduled to begin on February 3, 2025. They stand accused of misappropriating federal funds meant for child nutrition programs, marking a critical phase in this far-reaching investigation.
To date, 24 people have pleaded guilty, and five others have been convicted at trial.
Abukar’s sentencing date has yet to be determined.
