MINNEAPOLIS — Opening statements in the first trial for defendants in the massive Feeding our Future scheme are now underway. Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Ebert delivered the opening statement for the prosecution, reminding the jury about the COVID-19 outbreak in Spring 2020 that led to a pandemic and our way of life altered in many ways.
“This case is about an epic outbreak of another sort. About lying. Lying to get money. In a word – fraud,” Ebert said. "These 7 defendants all worked together and with their co-conspirators to commit massive fraud to steal more than $40 million, fueled by corruption and deception."
Ebert said the seven defendants on trial took advantage of changes in the federal meal program during the pandemic in order to steal $40 million in taxpayer money. Prosecutors say just a fraction of the money went to feed low-income kids, with the rest being spent on luxury cars, jewelry, travel and property.
During his opening statement, Ebert showed the jury various text messages, photos, and documents from the “overwhelming evidence of their scheme.”
"In 7 months, if things stay the same, you are multi-millionaire with 0 debt," Abiaziz Farah texted. "Bro, the next multi legit millionaires will be me and you"
"This food stuff is kind of a golden ticket," Mahad Ibrahim wrote. (Ibrahim will be tried separately.)
As an example of what he characterized as the absurdity of some of the defendants’ claims, Ebert highlighted one month in Faribault, MN, where there are about 4,000 school-aged children. In May 2021, six meal sites claimed to serve 7,000 meals daily to Faribault children – totaling more than $1 million in reimbursement.
“You will not need to be an expert in mathematics to recognize the absurd numbers,” Ebert said.
The first opening statement for the defense was delivered by Andrew Birrell, who is representing Abdiaziz Farah.
Attorneys for five additional defendants followed. Several of them characterized the defendants as hard-working entrepreneurs who were serving actual meals and working within the rules of the meal program as they knew them.
Several attorneys blamed the government or the nonprofits sponsoring the meal sites for not providing proper guidance.
The alleged plot
The food aid came from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and was administered by the Minnesota Department of Education. Nonprofits and other partners under the program were supposed to use the money to feed meals to underserved kids.
Two of the groups involved - Feeding Our Future and Partners in Nutrition - were small nonprofits before the pandemic, but in 2021 they disbursed around $200 million each. Prosecutors allege they produced bogus invoices for meals that were never served, ran shell companies, laundered money, indulged in passport fraud and accepted kickbacks.
The big picture
An Associated Press analysis published last June documented how thieves across the country plundered billions in federal COVID-19 relief dollars in the greatest grift in U.S. history. The money was meant to fight the worst pandemic in a century and stabilize an economy in freefall.
But the AP found that fraudsters potentially stole more than $280 billion, while another $123 billion was wasted or misspent. Combined, the loss represented 10% of the $4.3 trillion the government disbursed in COVID relief through last fall. Nearly 3,200 defendants have been charged, according to the U.S. Justice Department. About $1.4 billion in stolen pandemic aid has been seized.
This case
The defendants going on trial Monday before U.S. District Judge Nancy Brasel in Minneapolis are Abdiaziz Shafii Farah; Mohamed Jama Ismail; Abdimajid Mohamed Nur; Said Shafii Farah; Abdiwahab Maalim Aftin; Mukhtar Mohamed Shariff; and Hayat Mohamed Nur. They all pleaded not guilty. Their trial is expected to last around six weeks.
“The defendants’ fraud, like an aggressive cancer, spread and grew,” prosecutors wrote in a summary of their case.
Prosecutors say many of the purported feeding sites were nothing more than parking lots and derelict commercial spaces. Others turned out to be city parks, apartment complexes and community centers.
"By the time the defendants’ scheme was exposed in early 2022, they collectively claimed to have served over 18 million meals from 50 unique locations for which they fraudulently sought reimbursement of $49 million from the Federal Child Nutrition Program,” prosecutors wrote.
Future cases
Among the numerous defendants awaiting trial is Aimee Bock, the founder of Feeding Our Future. She's one of 14 defendants expected to go on trial together at a later date. Bock has maintained her innocence, saying she never stole and saw no evidence of fraud among her subcontractors. Bock actually filed a civil counterclaim against the Minnesota Department of Education, alleging MDE ignored concerns she raised about potential fraud, lied to the FBI, and forged and hid documents involving the allegations against her.
The politics
The scandal stirred up the 2022 legislative session and campaign in Minnesota.
Republicans attacked Gov. Tim Walz, saying he should have stopped the fraud earlier. But Walz pushed back, saying the state’s hands were tied by a court order in a lawsuit by Feeding Our Future to resume payments despite its concerns. He said the FBI asked the state to continue the payments while the investigation continued.
The Minnesota Department of Education now has an independent inspector general who is better empowered to investigate fraud and waste.
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