A Lakeville resident, Abdinasir Mahamed Abshir, has admitted guilt to wire fraud linked to a $250 million scheme that misused a federally funded child nutrition program during the COVID-19 pandemic. This development was announced by Acting U.S. Attorney Lisa D. Kirkpatrick.
Court documents reveal that from April 2020 to January 2022, Abshir operated under the guise of running a child nutrition site in Mankato, Minnesota, named Stigma-Free Mankato, with sponsorship from Feeding Our Future. He falsely claimed to serve meals to 3,000 children daily from J’s Sambusa restaurant in North Mankato and established Horseed Management as a sham vendor for his site. From November 2020 to November 2021, he and accomplices claimed approximately 1.6 million meals were served.
Abshir and his co-conspirators allegedly submitted fabricated meal counts and invoices while misappropriating funds intended for feeding children. Millions of dollars were diverted through Horseed Management into personal accounts and shell companies like Calikamin Enterprise. Fraudulent proceeds financed purchases such as a 2021 Range Rover now seized for forfeiture.
The investigation indicates Abshir paid over $100,000 in bribes to Abdikerm Eidleh of Feeding Our Future for facilitating fraudulent participation in the Federal Child Nutrition Program. Feeding Our Future reportedly received nearly $420,000 in administrative fees due to these activities.
Stigma-Free Mankato secured more than $5.4 million from Feeding Our Future based on deceptive claims.
On February 18, 2025, Abshir attempted witness tampering during proceedings against co-defendants Aimee Bock and Salim Said at the U.S. Federal Courthouse in Minneapolis by trying to converse privately with a testifying witness.
Abshir entered his guilty plea before Judge Nancy E. Brasel at the U.S District Court acknowledging an obstruction of justice enhancement will apply at sentencing due to his attempt at witness tampering. The sentencing hearing is yet to be scheduled.
The case was investigated by the FBI, IRS – Criminal Investigations, and the U.S Postal Inspection Service with prosecution led by Assistant U.S Attorneys Joseph H. Thompson, Matthew S Ebert, Harry M Jacobs, and Daniel W Bobier; asset forfeiture handled by Assistant U.S Attorney Craig Baune.