Tuesday May 27, 2025
An federal agent carries a computer out of the New Vision Foundation offices in St. Paul as agents execute a search warrant on Thursday.Ben Hovland | MPR News
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn (HOL) — Federal authorities in the United States have launched a new phase in the Feeding Our Future investigation, executing a search warrant at a Minnesota-based nonprofit accused of participating in a wide-ranging scheme to defraud federal child nutrition programs.
Agents from the FBI raided the offices of New Vision Foundation (NVF), a nonprofit based in St. Paul, on Thursday. According to an unsealed affidavit, NVF is suspected of submitting false claims for over one million meals it never served under the sponsorship of Feeding Our Future, the now-defunct organization at the center of the $250 million fraud case.
NVF, founded in 2016 to provide digital literacy and coding classes to disadvantaged youth, allegedly operated two fraudulent meal distribution sites—one at its Vandalia Street headquarters in St. Paul and another at a strip mall location in Waite Park, a city near St. Cloud.
Federal investigators say NVF claimed to serve meals to more than 3,000 children daily at its St. Paul location and an additional 1,800 children in Waite Park. However, employees of nearby businesses told law enforcement they never saw children at either site. Staff from an adjacent recycling nonprofit noted that their facility employs individuals with criminal records, including registered sex offenders, making the presence of children at NVF highly unlikely.
The search warrant, signed by a federal judge and authored by Special Agent Travis Wilmer, includes evidence that NVF used fabricated invoices to support its reimbursement claims. One such invoice for $33,000 worth of food items listed a supplier address that turned out to be a residential apartment complex, not a food warehouse. Forensic accountants later discovered that the company behind the invoice was managed by someone on NVF’s payroll.
Investigators also found that NVF paid more than $2.2 million to a small Minneapolis restaurant that had a vendor contract with the organization. Tax filings show NVF reported $3.5 million in grants and donations in 2021, the same year it allegedly participated in the fraud—an amount significantly higher than in previous years.
No charges have been filed against NVF’s executive director, Hussein Farah, a 2018 Bush Foundation fellow. He has not responded to requests for comment.
The raid marks the first new public development in the Feeding Our Future case in over a year. Since the investigation began in 2022, federal prosecutors have charged 70 individuals. Thirty-eight defendants have pleaded guilty, and seven others have been convicted at trial, including Feeding Our Future founder Aimee Bock, who is awaiting sentencing.
The scheme involved the misappropriation of funds from federally funded meal programs administered by the Minnesota Department of Education and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Prosecutors say organizations submitted false documentation to claim reimbursements for meals never served to children.
According to law enforcement, members of NVF’s board resigned in 2022 after questioning the organization’s involvement with Feeding Our Future and receiving unsatisfactory answers.
The investigation remains ongoing.
