Five people who were charged in connection to the Feeding Our Future scheme pleaded guilty to wire fraud this week.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s office, the five people stole $14.6 million in Federal Child Nutrition Program money that was meant to feed hungry children during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The five were among a group that was set to go to trial next month. One defendant remains in the trial, and another is set for a change of plea hearing next week, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office.
The group was tied to 42-year-old Ikram Yusuf Mohamed, and claimed to run food distribution sites across the Twin Cities. Mohamed opened multiple sites under the sponsorship of Feeding Our Future using the names of family membes, the attorney’s office says.
Shakur Abdinur Abdisalam, 46, Aisha Hassan Hussein, 29, Sahra Sharif Osman, 43, and Fadumo Mohamed Yusuf, 59, all claimed to have served hundreds of thousands of meals to children. Instead, the companies they claimed to run received more than $1 million each in Federal Child Nutrition funds, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office.
Each person pleaded guilty to one county of wire fraud. They will all be sentenced at a later date.
Prosecutors have called the Feeding Our Future scheme the largest pandemic fraud case in the country. So far, 63 people have been convicted.
