What federal prosecutors call a massive scheme to exploit lax rules during the COVID-19 pandemic to steal from a program meant to feed Minnesota children. Opening statements are scheduled to be made Monday in the fraud trial of seven people charged with the crime.
The seven will be the first of 70 defendants to go on trial on fraud charges. Eighteen others have already pleaded guilty.
Prosecutors said the seven people collectively stole more than $40 million in a conspiracy that cost taxpayers $250 million. This is one of the country’s largest pandemic-related fraud cases. Federal authorities said they had recovered about $50 million.
10 Charged with conspiracy to defraud Minnesota’s low-income child food program
Prosecutors say a small portion of the money was used to support children in low-income families, and the rest was spent on luxury cars, jewelry, travel and real estate.
After a massive fraud scheme, millions were stolen from a food program that was supposed to feed Minnesota children by exploiting lax rules during the COVID-19 pandemic. Seven people were charged with stealing dollars. (Shari L. Gross/Star Tribune, via AP, File)
Alleged conspiracy
Food assistance was provided by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and administered by the states. Ministry of Education. Nonprofits and other partners under the program were to provide meals to the children.
Two of the groups involved, Feeding Our Future and Partners in Nutrition, were small nonprofits before the pandemic, but each spent about $200 million in 2021. Prosecutors allege they created bills for meals that were never provided, ran shell companies, laundered money, committed passport fraud and accepted kickbacks.
big picture
An Associated Press analysis published last June documented how thieves across the country looted billions of dollars in federal COVID-19 relief funds in the largest devastation in U.S. history. . The money was aimed at fighting the worst pandemic in 100 years and stabilizing the economy, which is in free fall.
But the Associated Press found that fraudsters may have stolen more than $280 billion, with another $123 billion wasted or misused. The combined losses represented 10% of the $4.3 trillion the government had spent on coronavirus relief through last fall. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, nearly 3,200 defendants have been indicted so far. Approximately $1.4 billion in stolen pandemic relief funds have been seized.
in this case
The defendant, who will go on trial Monday before U.S. District Judge Nancy Brassell in Minneapolis, is Abdiaz Shafee Farah. Mohamed Jama Ismail. Abdimadji Mohamed Noor. Shafie Farah said. Abdiwahab Maalim Aftin. Mukhtar Mohamed Sharif. and Mr. Hayat Mohamed Noor. They all pleaded not guilty. Their trial is expected to last about six weeks.
Minnesota court receives first round conviction in $250 million scheme to defraud federal meal program
“The defendants’ fraudulent activities spread and expanded like a malignant tumor,” prosecutors said in their case summary.
Prosecutors argue that many of the alleged feeding sites are simply parking lots or abandoned commercial spaces. Other locations turned out to be city parks, apartment complexes, and community centers.
“By the time the Defendants’ scheme was exposed in early 2022, the Defendants had jointly provided more than 18 million meals at 50 unique locations and fraudulently collected $49 million in federal child nutrition programs in return. ,” prosecutors wrote.
Future cases
Among the defendants awaiting trial is Amy Bock, founder of Feeding our Future. She is one of 14 defendants scheduled to stand trial together at a later date. Bock maintains her innocence, saying she never stole and she saw no evidence of fraud among her subcontractors.
politics
The scandal has engulfed Minnesota’s 2022 legislative session and election campaign.
Republicans attacked Gov. Tim Walz, saying he should have stopped the fraud sooner. But Walz pushed back, arguing in a lawsuit by Feeding Our Future that the state’s hands are tied by a court order requiring payments to resume despite concerns. He said the FBI has asked the state to continue making payments while the investigation continues.
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The Minnesota Department of Education now has an independent inspector general with increased powers to investigate fraud and waste.
