by Anthony Gockowski
U.S. Attorney Andy Luger announced charges against 10 additional Minnesotans in the $250 million Feeding Our Future scandal Monday, bringing the total number of defendants to 60.
One of the new defendants, Sharon Ross, was the executive director of a nonprofit called House of Refuge Twin Cities. According to an October Fox 9 report, DFL Sen. Sandy Pappas from St. Paul personally intervened to help Ross’ nonprofit receive funding through Feeding Our Future in the spring of 2021.
“She contacted the Minnesota Department of Education asking that House of Refuge, the St. Paul social services organization, be approved to receive a grant — through Feeding Our Future — to continue House of Refuge’s ongoing efforts to provide food to families and children,” a spokesperson for Pappas told the outlet at the time.
“As she was advocating for the House of Refuge food program, she had no idea about any problems with Feeding Our Future,” the spokesperson added.
Ultimately, House of Refuge was approved to participate in the federal meals program under Feeding Our Future’s sponsorship but received all of its reimbursements through competitor Partners in Nutrition, the Fox 9 report claims.
Ross is now facing 10 counts of wire fraud and two counts of money laundering. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, she received approximately $2.8 million in fraudulent reimbursements between October 2021 and January 2022.
Pappas did not respond to a request for comment.
10 new defendants charged
The first 48 defendants were charged in September in what Luger described as a “brazen scheme of staggering proportions.”
At the center of the first round of charges was Aimee Bock, the founder and executive director of Feeding Our Future.
Feeding Our Future participated in the Summer Food Service Program and the Child and Adult Care Food Programs, both belonging to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Child Nutrition Programs.
These programs provide reimbursements for meals distributed to low-income children by food sites, like schools, nonprofits, restaurants, and more. Each food site must have a sponsor organization, in this case Feeding Our Future. The food sites submit reports on how many meals they are serving to the sponsor organization, which then submits the reports to the government for reimbursement.
In Minnesota, the federal reimbursements are wired to the sponsor organizations via the Department of Education. The sponsor organization then disburses the money among the food sites.
On the campaign trail, Gov. Tim Walz frequently changed his story about what his administration knew and when. Several of those charged in the first round of indictments were DFL donors.
“While the defendants we announced today are new, and some of the tactics they used are specific, the song of the Feeding Our Future scandal remains the same,” Luger said during a Monday press conference.
“These defendants, just like the first 50 announced last fall, falsely claimed to be feeding thousands of children. They submitted false reimbursement sheets with phony names of children and often used false invoices to make it appear as though they were purchasing large amounts of food when they were not,” he added.
Luger said the case of Kawsar Jama provides a “good insight” into how the scheme was carried out.
“Ms. Jama claimed to be serving about 2,560 meals a day to needy children in Pelican Rapids. In case you haven’t done the math, that means that she claimed to be feeding everybody who lived in Pelican Rapids, every day, whether they were children or not,” he said.
Jama did not even have a site at which she claimed to be serving food, according to Luger. “She forged a phony lease and submitted it with her application to make it appear as though she was serving food out of a location in Pelican Rapids, which she was not,” he said.
She obtained more than $3.7 million in federal reimbursements.
“Just like the first group of defendants, those charged today spent much of the money they stole on themselves, buying property, luxury vehicles, and in one case, an aircraft,” Luger explained. One of the defendants purchased a laundromat to use for laundering his funds.
A total of $66 million in assets has been seized by the federal government.
Six people have pleaded guilty thus far. Luger said they expect to bring additional charges.
Seven people were charged across four indictments Monday. A second sponsor organization is referred to as “Sponsor A” in the charges. The U.S. Attorney’s Office released the following information:
- Kawsar Jama, 41, of Eagan, was the principal of Gedo Community Services and Ahlan Childcare Center, Inc., both of which Jama enrolled in the federal Child Nutrition Program under the sponsorship of Feeding Our Future and Sponsor A. As alleged, between September 2020 through February 2022, Jama falsely claimed to have served approximately 1.46 million meals to needy children at sites in Pelican Rapids, Burnsville, and Minneapolis. In total, Jama submitted $3.7 million in fraudulent claims for federal Child Nutrition Program funds, some of which she spent on living expenses, real estate, and vehicles, including a Tesla Model X and an Infiniti QX56 SUV. Jama is charged with five counts of wire fraud and four counts of money laundering.
- Abdikadir Kadiye, 51, of Minneapolis, was the president of Hobyo Health Care Foundation, which he enrolled in the federal Child Nutrition Program under the sponsorship of Sponsor A. As alleged, throughout 2021, Kadiye falsely claimed to have served at least 445,000 meals to needy children at his sites in Minnetonka, Eden Prairie, and Minneapolis. In total, Kadiye submitted more than $1.1 million in fraudulent claims for federal Child Nutrition Program funds, some of which he spent on vehicles (including a $105,000 2022 BMW sport utility vehicle), airline tickets, real estate, and $20,000 towards the purchase of a laundromat. Kadiye is charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering and three counts of wire fraud.
- Abdulkadir Awale, 50, of Bloomington, was the principal of Karmel Coffee, LLC and Sambusa King, Inc., and the CEO of Nawal Restaurant. All three of Awale’s businesses were enrolled in the federal Child Nutrition Program under the sponsorship of Feeding Our Future and Sponsor A. As alleged, between April 2020 through January 2022, Awale falsely claimed that through his businesses he provided food for more than 3.6 million meals to various sites in Minnesota, totaling approximately $11.8 million in fraudulent federal Child Nutrition Program funds. As part of the scheme, Awale also paid at least $83,000 in kickbacks to a Feeding Our Future employee. Awale used some of the funds to make mortgage payments, cash withdrawals, and purchase vehicles, including a Freightliner Cascadia truck. Awale is charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering, five counts of money laundering, three counts of wire fraud, and four counts of federal programs bribery.
- Khadra Abdi, 41, of Minneapolis, was the principal of Shafi’i Tutoring & Homework Help Center, which she enrolled in the federal Child Nutrition Program under the sponsorship of Feeding Our Future. As alleged, between April 2020 through December 2021, Abdi falsely claimed to serve 1.1 million meals to needy children at her site in Hopkins. In total, Abdi submitted more than $3.4 million in fraudulent claims for federal Child Nutrition Program funds. As part of the scheme, Abdi also paid at least $17,000 in kickbacks to a Feeding Our Future employee. Abdi used some of the funds to make credit card payments, cash withdrawals, and purchase clothing. Abdi is charged with two counts of wire fraud and three counts of federal programs bribery.
- Ayan Farah Abukar, 41, of Savage, was the founder and executive director of Action for East African People, a nonprofit which she enrolled in the federal Child Nutrition Program under the sponsorship of Feeding Our Future and Sponsor A. As alleged, between October 2020 through 2022, Abukar falsely claimed to be serving as many as 5,000 children a day at her various sites in Bloomington, Minneapolis, Savage, and St. Paul. In total, Abukar fraudulently received approximately $5.7 million in fraudulent federal Child Nutrition Program funds. As part of the scheme, Abukar also paid more than $330,000 in kickbacks to a Feeding Our Future employee. Abukar spent millions on real estate, including a 37-acre commercial property in Lakeville and spent hundreds of thousands of dollars towards the purchase of an aircraft to be delivered to Nairobi, Kenya. Abukar is charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to commit federal programs bribery, three counts of federal programs bribery, and three counts of money laundering.
- Sade Osman Hashi, 45, of Minneapolis, was the principal of Great Lakes, Inc. and Safari Express, entities which he enrolled in the federal Child Nutrition Program under the sponsorship of Feeding Our Future and Sponsor A. As alleged, between September 2020 through 2022, Hashi falsely claimed to be serving as many as 2,500 meals each day to needy children at his site in the Midtown Global Market in Minneapolis. In total, Hashi fraudulently received approximately $5.7 million in fraudulent federal Child Nutrition Program funds. As part of the scheme, Hashi also paid more than $150,000 in kickbacks to a Feeding Our Future employee. Hashi used some of the funds to make cash withdrawals and converted approximately $133,000 to cryptocurrency. Hashi is charged with four counts of wire fraud, conspiracy to commit federal programs bribery, three counts of federal programs bribery, and one count of money laundering.
- Sharon Denise Ross, 52, of Big Lake, was the executive director of House of Refuge Twin Cities, a nonprofit which she enrolled in the federal Child Nutrition Program under the sponsorship of Feeding Our Future and Sponsor A. As alleged, between October 2021 and January 2022, Ross falsely claimed to be serving thousands of children each day at her House of Refuge sites. In total, Ross fraudulently received approximately $2.8 million in fraudulent federal Child Nutrition Program funds, some of which she spent on real estate, vehicles, and payments to family members. Ross is charged with ten counts of wire fraud and two counts of money laundering.
Three were charged via criminal informations, which are used when the defendants are expected to plead guilty. They are:
- Mohamed Ali Hussein, 53, and Lul Bashir Ali, 57, both of Faribault, enrolled their entities Somali American Faribault Education (SAFE) and Lido Restaurant in the federal Child Nutrition Program under the sponsorship of Feeding Our Future. As alleged, Hussein falsely claimed that the SAFE site in Faribault was serving as many as 2,500 children a day, seven days a week. Ali falsely claimed that the Lido Restaurant site in Faribault was serving as many as 1,600 children a day, seven days a week. In total, Hussein and Ali received more than $5 million in fraudulent federal Child Nutrition Program funds. As part of the scheme, Hussein also paid more than $100,000 in kickbacks to a Feeding Our Future employee. Hussein and Ali are charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
- Mulata Yusuf Ali, 38, of Minneapolis, is charged with theft of government funds involving the federal Child Nutrition Program from December 2020 through January 2022.
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Anthony Gockowski is Editor-in-Chief of Alpha News. He previously worked as an editor for The Minnesota Sun and Campus Reform, and reported for The Daily Caller.
Photo “Andy Luger” by FOX 9 Minneapolis-St. Paul.
