(KNSI) – The U.S. Attorney’s Office announced two major developments in the $250 million Feeding Our Future fraud case.
Acting U.S. Attorney Lisa D. Kirkpatrick says 43-year-old Ayan Farah Abukar of Savage pleaded guilty to her involvement in the sweeping scheme that exploited a federally funded child nutrition program during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Court documents reveal Abukar was the founder and executive director of the non-profit Action for East African People. She enrolled her organization in the Federal Child Nutrition Program under the sponsorship of Feeding Our Future, and an entity only referred to as Sponsor A. From October 2020 to 2022, Abukar claimed to serve meals to up to 5,000 children daily at sites in Bloomington, Minneapolis, Savage, and St. Paul. Abukar’s fraudulent activities resulted in her landing approximately $5.7 million in program funds.
As part of the scheme, Abukar paid over $330,000 in kickbacks to a Feeding Our Future employee and used the stolen money to purchase luxury items, including a 37-acre commercial property in Lakeville and an aircraft in Nairobi, Kenya.
Abukar pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud before Chief Judge Schiltz in U.S. District Court. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled at a later date.
Meanwhile, a Bloomington man has been sentenced to more than 17 years in prison for his involvement in the scheme.
After a seven-week trial in U.S. District Court, 34-year-old Mukhtar Mohamed Shariff was convicted in June 2024 of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and money laundering.
At trial, prosecutors proved that Shariff, the CEO of Afrique Hospitality Group, misappropriated and laundered millions of dollars intended to reimburse the cost of serving meals to children. The scheme involved fabricating documents, including meal count sheets, invoices for food purchases, and attendance rosters purportedly listing the names and ages of children served meals. Many of these records were entirely fake, with fabricated names and attendance figures.
“The defendant committed a brazen fraud that shamelessly stole taxpayer money intended to feed children during a global pandemic. He lined his pockets, here and abroad, with millions,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Kirkpatrick. “As the Court found, he doubled down on his crimes by obstructing justice. This significant sentence should serve as a clear warning to anyone who would seek to exploit and defraud government programs. You will be held accountable.”
Once Shariff’s prison term is up, he will serve three years of supervised relief. The court also ordered him to pay $47,920,514 in restitution.
Shariff and dozens of others are accused of exploiting the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s federally funded Child Nutrition Program during the COVID-19 pandemic. The program provides free meals to children in need. In Minnesota, the program is overseen by the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE). During the COVID-19 pandemic, the USDA waived certain participation requirements, such as allowing for-profit restaurants to join and enabling off-site food distribution to children. These changes, meant to ensure access to food for underserved children, were exploited by Shariff and his co-conspirators.
U.S. District Judge Nancy E. Brasel, who handed down the sentence, stated that Shariff’s actions reflected a “staggering lack of respect for the law” and noted that taxpayers were “outraged by the brazenness of the crime.”
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