10 more indicted in Feeding Our Future fraud 

U.S. Attorney Andy Luger points out all the sites across the state where federal child nutrition program funds were misused at a September 2022 press conference. Deena Winter/Minnesota Reformer

Ten more people were indicted Monday for misappropriating and laundering money they got through a federal child nutrition program prosecutors say was bilked out of more than $250 million in Minnesota.

That brings the total number of people indicted to 60. So far, six people have pleaded guilty.

The feds have seized $66.6 million in bank accounts, real estate and other property, including $4 million worth of vehicles. U.S. Attorney Andy Luger said the money was spent on fancy cars from Teslas to BMWs to luxe resort vacations, and even a deposit on an airplane.

One even laundered money by purchasing a laundromat, Luger said.

"The song of the Feeding Our Future scandal remains the same," Luger said during a press conference.

Just like the first 50 people indicted, the defendants are charged with falsely claiming to have fed thousands of needy children daily, generating fake invoices to make it appear they were buying large amounts of food, but spending much of the money on themselves. They’re charged with conspiracy, wire fraud, money laundering and bribery.

And the investigation isn't over.

Among those charged is a prominent woman in the Bloomington area, Ayan Farah Abukar, 41, who was lauded as an "outstanding refugee" in 2021 by the state Department of Human Services, the Reformer reported in October.

Abukar founded Action for East African People, which she enrolled in the federal child nutrition program under the sponsorship of Feeding Our Future and another unnamed company. She's charged with falsely claiming to serve up to 5,000 children a day at sites in Bloomington, Minneapolis, Savage, and St. Paul from October 2020 through 2022.

Abukar is charged with fraudulently receiving about $5.7 million in federal funds, paying over $330,000 in kickbacks to a Feeding Our Future employee and spending millions on real estate, including a 37-acre commercial property in Lakeville. She's accused of using the money to deposit a quarter of a million dollars towards the purchase of an aircraft to be delivered to Nairobi, Kenya.

Luger said among the most brazen schemes he's seen is that of Kawsar Jama, 41, of Eagan, who claimed to be feeding 2,560 meals per day to needy children in Pelican Rapids, which has a total population of about 2,500.

Luger said the names of the children she claimed to feed didn't match school records, and she reached out to a friend to "help her invent names."

Jama didn't go to the trouble of renting a fake food distribution site, as most of the defendants did, but forged a phony lease instead, Luger said.

She's charged with submitting $3.7 million in fraudulent claims for federal funds, some of which she spent on living expenses, real estate, and vehicles, including a Tesla Model X and Infiniti QX56 SUV.

Also charged are:

Luger said the following were charged and are expected to plead guilty soon are:

by Deena Winter, Minnesota Reformer March 13, 2023

Our stories may be republished online or in print under Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. We ask that you edit only for style or to shorten, provide proper attribution and link to our web site. Please see our republishing guidelines for use of photos and graphics.

Deena Winter has covered local and state government in four states over the past three decades, with stints at the Bismarck Tribune in North Dakota, as a correspondent for the Denver Post, city hall reporter in Lincoln, Nebraska, and regional editor for Southwest News in the western Minneapolis suburbs.