A defendant in the Feeding Our Future case was arrested Monday for allegedly intimidating a witness last week in an ongoing trial.
Federal prosecutors allege that Abdinasir Abshir violated his pretrial release terms by approaching a witness in the trial of Feeding Our Future’s former executive director, Aimee Bock. Abdinasir Abshir has not been charged in relation to last week’s incident, which is still under investigation.
Abdinasir Abshir is being held in jail pending a detention hearing Friday, when a federal judge will determine whether he should remain in custody until his trial in the fraud case, which is scheduled for August.
Abdinasir Abshir’s attorney, Craig Cascarano, denies the accusations against his client. Abdinasir Abshir recognized the witness, Sharmake Jama, knew that he had recently suffered a death in his family and was trying to offer his condolences, Cascarano said.
“He knows who this guy is; he had met him before,” Cascarano said. “He wasn’t certain it was the same guy, so he came up and said hello and wanted to offer condolences.”
Assistant U.S. Attorney Joe Thompson told the court last Tuesday that Sharmake Jama said he had been approached by Abdinasir Abshir and a second man in a courthouse hallway that afternoon before he was scheduled to testify in Bock’s trial. Sharmake Jama said Abdinasir Abshir asked him to accompany him to the bathroom for a discussion.
Prosecutors allege that Sharmake Jama “felt intimidated and understood that Abshir was trying to intimidate him.”
Sharmake Jama, who pleaded guilty in the Feeding Our Future case last month, testified last week about how he enrolled his Rochester restaurant in the fraud scheme. Several of his family members have also pleaded guilty in the case. One relative, Fartun Jama, died shortly after she was charged in the case in 2023.
Cascarano denies that Abdinasir Abshir ever invited Sharmake Jama to speak with him in the bathroom. He also denies Sharmake Jama’s allegation that Abdinasir Abshir’s voice was slurred when they spoke in the hallway.
Prosecutors also said that Abdinasir Abshir entered the courtroom last week with impeccable timing, as a U.S. Postal Office inspector was on the witness stand testifying about Abdinasir Abshir’s Makato food site. Abdinasir Abshir and an unidentified person sat near the jury and spoke loudly during the inspector’s testimony. A security guard then asked them to leave the courtroom.
Abdinasir Abshir is charged with operating a Mankato food site that allegedly faked the number of meals it served in order to defraud the federal government and receive financial reimbursement.
He is one of 70 people charged with allegedly stealing $250 million from the federal government that was meant to feed children during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Prosecutors allege that “it appeared as though someone informed him [Abdinasir Abshir] of the testimony related to his fraudulent food site.” They pointed the finger at Salim Said, the Safari Restaurant co-owner who is on trial with Bock.
Cascarano, however, denies that Abdinasir Abshir was tipped off about the testimony about his food site, and instead said that his client’s presence that day was routine. Abdinasir Abshir has attended many days of trial in this case and in last year’s Feeding Our Future trial.
“Him being there that day is not a big deal,” Cascarano said.
