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Feeding our Future fraud sentences: Latest news
Two more people are being sentenced for their roles in the Feeding our Future fraud that stole more than $250 million in pandemic-era federal funds from programs meant to feed children. FOX 9’s Paul Blume has the latest.
(FOX 9) - Abdihakim Ali Ahmed was sentenced to 54 months in federal prison for his role in the Feeding Our Future fraud scheme — one of the largest pandemic-era fraud cases in the country.
Feeding our Future sentencing
What we know:
Ahmed and his co-conspirators created ASA Limited LLC, a shell company that received approximately $5 million in fraudulent Federal Child Nutrition Program funds intended to serve needy children.
Ahmed, who was one of the initial defendants indicted in the massive conspiracy with ringleader Aimee Bock, had previously pleaded guilty to wire fraud and money laundering.
He admitted that he ran his bogus meal scheme out of the Gurey Deli, a small market located in a Maplewood strip mall. He submitted his application together with Bock, who was then Feeding Our Future’s executive director.
Within just three weeks of creating the meal site, Ahmed and his co-conspirators claimed to be serving meals to 2,000 or 3,000 children each day, seven days a week.
In total, Ahmed and his group reported serving more than 1.6 million meals by submitting fraudulent meal counts, attendance rosters and invoices during the site’s first year in operation.
Federal prosecutors said the roster spreadsheets for a supposed "after-school program" contained a formula that inserted a random number between 7 and 17 in the age column for each "child" on the list.
What they're saying:
In sentencing Ahmed to four-and-a-half years in prison, U.S. District Court Judge Nancy Brasel told the defendant, "This was a global pandemic. Instead of helping, you did the opposite of helping and you stole."
Federal prosecutors had asked for a 57-month sentence at the top end of the sentencing guideline range in the case.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Rebecca Kline called the more than $2M Ahmed received personally from the fraud an "extraordinary amount of money."
Ahmed apologized for his criminal acts in stealing from hungry children.
"This was a terrible moment in my life," he said. "I am extremely sorry."
What's next:
Ahmed was ordered to report to prison on October 6 at noon.
Judge Brasel recommended that he serve his time at a minimum-security prison in Minnesota.
The Source: FOX 9 reporting from Feeding our Future fraud sentencing.