A Golden Valley man has admitted guilt in a wire fraud case connected to a $250 million scheme exploiting a federally funded child nutrition program during the COVID-19 pandemic. This was announced by Acting U.S. Attorney Joseph H. Thompson.
Court documents reveal that in October 2020, after the Minnesota Department of Education stopped approving food sites run by for-profit entities, Ahmed Mohamed Artan, 40, acquired Stigma-Free International, a non-profit entity. Artan and his associates used this organization to establish new Federal Child Nutrition Program sites across Minnesota, including locations in Willmar, Mankato, St. Cloud, Waite Park, and St. Paul. They falsely claimed to serve meals to thousands of children daily and received millions in federal funds.
Between November 2020 and November 2021, Artan and his co-conspirators fraudulently claimed nearly five million meals were served at these sites using fake meal count sheets and attendance rosters with names of nonexistent children.
Artan's group also created Olive Management Inc., claiming it operated a nutrition program site in St. Cloud serving 3,000 children daily at a small deli. From September 2020 to September 2021, they falsely reported over 1.6 million meals served there using fraudulent documentation.
Another company called Optimum Community Services was established as part of the scheme with alleged food distribution sites in Golden Valley and Waite Park where they claimed nearly 700,000 meals were served between March and December 2021.
Instead of using the funds for their intended purpose, Artan and his associates misappropriated them through Five A’s Projects LLC by transferring over $1 million from the Federal Child Nutrition Program funds to purchase property now forfeited to the United States.
The fraudulent activities resulted in approximately $1,682,664 loss from federal funds due to false reimbursement claims.
Artan pleaded guilty before Judge Eric C. Tostrud in U.S. District Court with sentencing scheduled later.
The investigation involved the FBI, IRS – Criminal Investigations division, and U.S. Postal Inspection Service while prosecution is led by Acting U.S. Attorney Joseph H. Thompson along with Assistant U.S Attorneys Matthew S. Ebert, Harry M Jacobs; Daniel W Bobier; Craig Baune handles asset seizure/forfeiture proceedings.
