HUNT VALLEY, Md. (TNND) — A Minnesotan married couple pleaded guilty Wednesday to participating in the Feeding Our Future fraud scheme, through which hundreds of millions of dollars were stolen from the federal government.
Ikram Yusuf Mohamed and Shakur Abdinur Abdisalam admitted in plea agreements to helping defraud the Federal Child Nutrition Program, which provided free meals to children in need, during the pandemic.
Mohamed, who worked as a consultant for Feeding Our Future, misappropriated program funds from the end of 2020 to the start of 2022. She received $1.3 million in payments from people involved in the scheme and helped her family and friends defraud the federal government of millions more.
Abdisalam, the head of an organization sponsored by Feeding Our Future, took more than $1.5 million in program funds, most of which he gave to his conspirators. His organization claimed to have served more than 700,000 meals and snacks between February and December 2021, a number that “far exceeded” the actual sum.
Feeding Our Future’s scheme has resulted in a total loss of several hundred million dollars. Aimee Bock, the head of the nonprofit, was found guilty last year of directing the conspiracy, which at that point was estimated to have defrauded the government of nearly $250 million.
“Stealing from the federal government is stealing from the American people – plain and simple,” Alvin Winston Sr., the former head of FBI’s Minneapolis office, said in a statement after her conviction. “The egregious fraud uncovered in the Feeding our Future case represents the blatant betrayal of public trust.”
Bock has maintained her innocence. She denied being the “mastermind” of the scheme during a CBS News interview earlier this year.
“I believe in accountability. If I had done this, I would have pled guilty,” she said. “I wouldn’t have gone to trial. I wouldn’t have put my children and my family through what we’ve been through.”
Fraud in Minnesota, which is governed by Democrat Tim Walz, has attracted the attention of President Donald Trump, who has long targeted blue states.
“‘Governor’ Waltz is either the most CORRUPT government official in history, or the most INCOMPETENT,” the president wrote in a social media post in January. “Even a very low IQ person, of which there are many, should have known what was going on in Minnesota!!!”
Walz, who ended his reelection campaign amid Trump’s attacks, has said his administration is fighting fraud and accused Trump of worsening the situation.
Have questions, concerns or tips? Send them to Ray at rjlewis@sbgtv.com.
