MINNEAPOLIS (NewsNation) — Newly obtained court documents allege that defendants in Minnesota’s massive child nutrition fraud scheme spent millions in taxpayer funds intended for hungry children on lavish purchases including island vacations, waterfront properties and luxury vehicles.
Federal trial exhibits show accused fraudsters celebrating a honeymoon in the Maldives with champagne, purchasing entire buildings in Kenya and acquiring high-end items, including a 2021 Porsche Macan and expensive jewelry.
Text messages recovered by investigators depict individuals flaunting their wealth, including one photo showing a box containing $250,000 in cash.
“They used this money that was supposed to be used for feeding children to buy houses in Minnesota, resort property and real estate in Kenya and Turkey, luxury cars, commercial property, jewelry and much more,” former U.S. Attorney Andrew Luger said when announcing the indictments in September 2022.
Text messages reveal cash boxes, international wire transfers
The spending revelations come as federal authorities have indicted 86 people in connection with the Feeding Our Future fraud case, a big COVID-19-era fraud scheme.
Federal sources told NewsNation that 79 of those indicted are young and of Somali descent.
Recovered text messages show the scope of the defendants’ spending ambitions. One message read: “You are gonna be the richest 25-year-old, Insha Allah” (God willing).
Investigators also uncovered evidence of international money transfers, with millions wired to accounts in China and Kenya.
One text message instructed: “please send $1,000 to Mogadishu Bakara,” referring to a market in Somalia previously controlled by al-Shabaab, an al-Qaida affiliate. The location was also the site of the 1993 Black Hawk Down incident in which 18 U.S. service members were killed.
David Gaither, a former Minnesota lawmaker who witnessed the fraud firsthand as executive director of the International Education Center, pointed to specific examples of the scheme’s audacity.
“This is the Safari restaurant in downtown Minneapolis. This is the epicenter of some of the biggest fraud and wasted abuse in this area,” Gaither said. “The owner right now is currently in jail, federal jail. This restaurant, which seats about 35, supposedly served 18,000-plus meals a day.”
86 indicted; two sentenced to 28 and 10 years in prison
Two defendants in the case have already been sentenced. One 36-year-old received 28 years in prison, while another was sentenced to 10 years and ordered to pay nearly $48 million in restitution.
The case has drawn congressional scrutiny, with House Republicans launching a probe into Gov. Tim Walz’s handling of the fraud. The Treasury Department has said it is investigating whether any of the fraudulently obtained funds reached al-Shabaab.
The nonprofit Feeding Our Future recruited individuals to open more than 200 federal child nutrition program sites throughout Minnesota, claiming to serve meals to thousands of children daily.
Instead, prosecutors say, the organization created fake attendance rosters and invoices that were reimbursed by the federal government.