Abdihakim Ali Ahmed, a resident of Minneapolis, has admitted guilt to charges of wire fraud and money laundering linked to a $250 million fraud scheme. This scheme exploited a federally funded child nutrition program during the COVID-19 pandemic, as announced by Acting U.S. Attorney Lisa D. Kirkpatrick.
Court documents reveal that between September 2020 and January 2022, Ahmed claimed to operate a child nutrition site in St. Paul, Minnesota. On September 4, 2020, he registered ASA Limited LLC with the Minnesota Secretary of State and soon after applied for it to function as a food site under the Federal Children Nutrition Program at Gurey Deli in St. Paul. The application was submitted with Aimee Bock, executive director of Feeding Our Future.
Ahmed and his associates falsely reported serving meals to thousands of children daily over the course of a year from September 2020 to September 2021. They claimed more than 1.6 million meals were served at ASA Limited during this period.
The fraudulent activities included submitting fake attendance rosters listing approximately 2,000 children supposedly attending an after-school program at ASA Limited from September through December 2021. These lists contained fabricated names and ages generated by spreadsheet formulas.
Rather than using funds obtained through these false claims for their intended purpose, Ahmed misappropriated them for personal gain. He transferred large sums to himself and others involved in the scheme through shell companies like 1130 Holdings Inc., and Five A’s Projects LLC which received over $1 million in Federal Child Nutrition Program funds.
Ahmed used some proceeds to buy properties including Kelly’s 19th Hole bar and restaurant in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, which will be forfeited along with other assets such as a Mini Cooper vehicle purchased with fraudulent funds.
Additionally, Ahmed paid more than $49,000 in bribes to Abdikerm Eidleh from Feeding Our Future for facilitating ASA Limited's participation in the program while Feeding Our Future received nearly $400,000 in administrative fees.
Overall losses caused by Ahmed and his co-conspirators amounted to $7.3 million due to fraudulent claims made via Feeding Our Future.
Acting U.S. Attorney Lisa D. Kirkpatrick stated: “I am proud of the unrelenting efforts of our prosecution team to hold the defendants—who engaged in a massive pay-to-play fraud scheme that exploited Minnesota and the Federal Child Nutrition Program—accountable.”
Ahmed entered his guilty plea before Judge Nancy E. Brasel at U.S District Court; sentencing is yet to be scheduled.
This case results from investigations conducted by FBI agents alongside IRS – Criminal Investigation officers and U.S Postal Inspection Service personnel while Assistant U.S Attorneys Joseph H Thompson Matthew S Ebert Harry M Jacobs Daniel W Bobier are leading prosecutions assisted by Craig Baune managing asset seizures forfeitures
