A judge in Minnesota has sentenced two men to prison for their involvement in a pandemic fraud scheme that misappropriated $7.3 million in COVID-19 relief funds meant for a child nutrition program. Ahmed Ghedi was sentenced to over five years in prison, and Abdihakim Ahmed received a four-and-a-half-year sentence.
Prosecutors stated that Ghedi and Ahmed helped operate the fraudulent child nutrition site, Feeding Our Future, which falsely claimed to provide meals to thousands of children daily in the Twin Cities area. The funds they received were instead used to purchase property and vehicles, and to distribute cash among associates of the organization.
The judge also ordered both men to pay restitution, with Ahmed responsible for $2,242,590 and Ghedi for $2,862,451. These sentences follow the earlier sentencing of Amee Bock, identified as the mastermind behind the Feeding Our Future scam. Bock was convicted of orchestrating $250 million in pandemic relief fraud and received a sentence of nearly 42 years in May.
Prosecutors described the nonprofit as functioning like a "cash pipeline," utilizing a network of fictitious distribution sites, fabricated lists of children, and kickback schemes to facilitate the fraud. The investigation has resulted in convictions for dozens of individuals, many connected to the state's Somali community.
The Feeding Our Future case became a focal point for federal law enforcement efforts to combat pandemic-related fraud. The FBI has also added Fahad Mohamed Nur, an alleged fraudster accused of stealing $5 million from a similar children's meal program, to its Most Wanted List, highlighting ongoing efforts to address large-scale government program fraud.