x
Breaking News
More () »

Seeking answers after AG shuts down Minneapolis city councilor's wife's food charity

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said Jamal Osman and his wife, Ilo Amba, aren't facing any charges, but Amba agreed to discontinue Urban Advantage Services.

MINNEAPOLIS — It's been nearly a week since Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison announced that he officially shut down a Minneapolis city councilor's wife's food charity tied to Feeding Our Future.

The couple, Councilor Jamal Osman and Ilo Amba, has yet to answer any questions about the nearly half a million dollars they allegedly received in federal funding.

Experts say it's unlikely that money will ever be recovered, given some of the violations in this case accuse Amba of poor record keeping and never filing taxes. 

And while she, nor her husband, aren't facing any charges, and don't have to answer to anything, this saga isn't over yet. 

"Once the entity sees the writing on the wall that they’re not going to win this one, they’ll say, OK, we’re done, and pack it up and agree to do that," said former federal prosecutor and current law professor at the University of St. Thomas Mark Osler. 

Ellison and Amba agreed to dissolve the charity called Urban Advantage Services (UAS) in October, but documents show it ceased operations in January of 2022. 

Osman was at Wednesday's Committee of the Whole meeting, but left and came back. The second time he left for good before the meeting was over and we couldn't ask him any questions. 

KARE 11 has reached out to Osman by phone, email and at his city office several times. He was also a no-show at the city's same meeting on Tuesday. 

The offices of UAS are also long abandoned in downtown Minneapolis. Failing to maintain a registered address is one of several violations Ellison says UAS racked up not long after it was started in 2020. He also claims it didn't register with the Attorney General's Office and its board of directors failed to meet.

He called the charity a fraudulent shell company that was created to perpetuate and tied to Feeding Our Future. That scheme exploited a federal program to feed hungry children during the pandemic that has since led to about 70 people facing charges, many of whom are already convicted. 

Ellison says Ambo directed federal funding to herself, her family members and co-conspirators. 

"Regardless of how it's structured or perceived as cultural differences, that's something that's wrong and the government has to act on," said Osler. "I know to some people it might seem about money, but it's about the trust in government, it's about the trust in charitable instincts and there was a real loss there."

Documents show UAS was one of about two dozen related charities Ellison sued last year.

But dissolutions like these don't preclude people from still facing consequences, depending on what, if any, evidence there is. 

Some of which will play out next year as several more people already criminally charged in the Feeding our Future case are expected to start standing trial in February.

"This was a time when kids were hungry, there was a great need there, and there’s a really big moral wrong and there is a need to address that," said Osler.

Before You Leave, Check This Out