A Minneapolis man has admitted guilt to charges of wire fraud and money laundering connected to a $250 million scheme exploiting a child nutrition program during the COVID-19 pandemic. Acting U.S. Attorney Joseph H. Thompson announced the guilty plea.
Court documents reveal that Ahmed Abdullahi Ghedi, 35, claimed to run a child nutrition site in St. Paul, Minnesota, from September 2020 through January 2022. On September 4, 2020, Ghedi’s co-conspirator registered ASA Limited LLC with the Minnesota Secretary of State. Shortly after, an application was made for ASA Limited to operate under the Federal Children Nutrition Program at Gurey Deli in St. Paul through Feeding Our Future's sponsorship.
Within three weeks of its creation, Ghedi and his associates falsely reported serving meals to thousands of children daily. Over one year, they fraudulently claimed over 1.6 million meals served at ASA Limited by submitting inflated meal counts and fabricated records.
Instead of using funds for their intended purpose, Ghedi and his co-conspirators misappropriated much of it. Using AG Limited LLC as a shell entity, Ghedi concealed the source and ownership of his share of the proceeds. Between December 2020 and November 2021, he deposited over $2 million into AG Limited LLC accounts and spent on vehicles and credit card expenses totaling more than $445,000.
Ghedi also transferred approximately $560,000 to Cosmopolitan Business Properties LLC for purchasing property in Minneapolis that will be forfeited along with a vehicle.
Additionally, court documents state that Ghedi paid kickbacks totaling $54,000 to Abdikerm Eidleh from Feeding Our Future for facilitating ASA Limited’s fraudulent activities within the program. Feeding Our Future received nearly $400,000 in administrative fees related to these activities.
The total loss caused by this scheme amounts to $7.2 million based on fraudulent claims submitted through Feeding Our Future.
Ghedi entered his guilty plea before Judge Nancy E. Brasel in U.S District Court today; sentencing is pending scheduling.
The investigation involved efforts by the FBI, IRS – Criminal Investigations Division (CID), and U.S Postal Inspection Service with prosecution led by Assistant U.S Attorneys Matthew S Ebert Harry M Jacobs Daniel W Bobier while asset seizure/forfeiture handled Craig Baune
