Abdikerm Abdelahi Eidleh, 42, who had been indicted in connection with Minnesota's Feeding Our Future scam, was arrested Thursday in Mogadishu, Somalia. Prosecutors have described the scheme as the largest COVID-era fraud in the United States, with Feeding Our Future allegedly receiving approximately $250 million in federal funds while falsely claiming to provide millions of meals to children.
Eidleh is accused of playing a significant role in the fraud, allegedly recruiting and sponsoring Federal Child Nutrition Program sites for the scheme. He also allegedly created his own program sites, submitting fraudulent invoices through shell companies that supposedly served as meal vendors. Prosecutors claim Eidleh deposited more than $5 million into these shell company accounts.
Assistant Attorney General Colin McDonald stated that Eidleh had fled to Somalia in an attempt to evade justice, adding that he stole taxpayer dollars and deprived vulnerable children of necessary resources. The FBI credited the National Intelligence and Security Agency of Somalia for their assistance in locating and apprehending Eidleh. Special Agent in Charge of the FBI's Minneapolis Field Office, Christopher Dotson, noted that authorities had been tracking Eidleh's whereabouts for a couple of weeks.
The Feeding Our Future nonprofit was intended to provide meals to children in need during the COVID-19 pandemic under a federally funded program. However, prosecutors allege the organization used the funds for international travel, luxury vehicles, and real estate.
Eidleh faces 31 counts, including conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy to commit federal programs bribery, federal programs bribery, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and money laundering. He is one of 79 individuals charged in the case, many of whom are members of Minnesota's Somali American community, and 59 have pleaded guilty to date.
Prosecutors have identified Eidleh as being "second in command" to Aimee Bock, the founder and executive director of Feeding Our Future. Bock was convicted last March and sentenced to more than 41 years in prison for her role in masterminding the scam.
Eidleh's apprehension in Mogadishu occurs approximately 30 years after the 1993 "Black Hawk Down" incident in the same city, where two U.S. Black Hawk helicopters were shot down. The incident resulted in the deaths of 18 Americans and injuries to 73 others during a 15-hour battle. American soldiers had been deployed to Somalia at the time to support a United Nations mission providing humanitarian aid in response to a severe famine. Eidleh had reportedly left the U.S. in November 2021.