Guilty pleas in the Feeding Our Future fraud investigation started trickling in three weeks after the U.S. Attorney’s Office first announced charges in September 2022 against dozens of suspects. Fourteen defendants have pleaded guilty in the case.
As Sahan Journal tracks the growing number of defendants in the case, we’ll also track all of the defendants who plead guilty. This story will be updated as more defendants plead.
Federal prosecutors call the Feeding Our Future investigation the largest single COVID-19 pandemic relief fraud case in the nation; at least $250 million were allegedly embezzled from the federal government. The case alleges that several nonprofits defrauded the federal government of money meant to feed underprivileged children. Instead of feeding children, the defendants allegedly embezzled the money and spent it on personal items including real estate, flashy cars, and luxury vacations.
Sponsor organizations like Feeding Our Future received the federal funds, and then distributed them to smaller groups—also known as food sites—that were supposed to feed children.
The alleged fraud was simple at its foundation: Some organizations along the money chain reported serving more meals than they actually did—or completely invented their numbers without ever serving meals—in order to receive more federal reimbursement dollars.
Below is a list of the defendants who have pleaded guilty:
- Bekam Merdassa, 40, co-ran Youth Inventors Lab, a shell company that used Feeding Our Future as its sponsor. Bekam pleaded guilty on October 13 to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. He admitted in court that Youth Inventors Lab never served a single meal, but collected $3 million in federal food-aid money by claiming to have served 1.3 million meals between December 2020 and June 2021.
- Hadith Yusuf Ahmed, 33, previously worked for Feeding Our Future monitoring food sites enrolled in the federal Child Nutrition Programs through Feeding Our Future. Hadith pleaded guilty on October 13 to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. He admitted to accepting $1 million in kickbacks from food sites in exchange for enrolling them in the federal food programs. He also admitted to starting a shell company called Southwest Metro Youth that received $1.1 million by falsely claiming to feed 2,000 children a day. He told a judge that he didn’t know how many children Southwest Metro Youth actually fed during the pandemic, but that it was “nowhere close to 2,000.”
- Hanna Marekegn, 40, owned Brava Cafe, a Minneapolis restaurant. She pleaded guilty on October 13 to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. She told the court that Brava received $7.1 million in federal food-aid money by claiming to serve more than two million meals between September 2020 and January 2022. She did not know how many meals Brava actually served but admitted that she inflated the numbers. She also admitted to giving more than $150,000 in bribes to Feeding Our Future employees in exchange for enrolling her restaurant in the food programs. “I made a mistake,” she told the court as she wept.
- Abdul Abubakar Ali, 40, co-ran the Youth Inventors Lab food site. He pleaded guilty on October 26 to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. He admitted that Youth Inventors Lab never served a single meal but claimed to serve 1.3 million meals in order to receive $3 million in federal food-aid money.
- Anab Awad, 53, headed the nonprofit Multiple Community Services, which ran five food sites in Minneapolis, Osseo, and Faribault. She pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud for fraudulently obtaining $9.3 million of food-aid money. Anab claimed her organization served 3.8 million meals, but admitted in court that she served only a fraction of that number.
- Liban Yasin Alishire, 42, claimed to serve 870,000 meals during 2020 and 2021 through the Child Nutrition Programs at two nonprofits he helped run: Community Enhancement Services and Lake Street Kitchen. Federal prosecutors say Liban fraudulently claimed $2.4 million in federal food-aid money, keeping $714,000 of that money for himself. He pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and one count of money laundering. Liban agreed to pay $714,000 in restitution and forfeit a resort he owns in Kenya, an apartment unit in Kenya, a Ford F150 pickup, and a boat and trailer.
- Mulata Ali, 38, of Minneapolis, pleaded guilty to one count of aiding and abetting in the theft of public money. Mulata operated Franklyn Transportation LLC, which federal authorities allege fraudsters used as a shell company to launder more than $2 million of stolen federal money. People involved in the alleged scheme paid Mulata close to $100,000 to use his business’ bank account to move stolen money. Mulata’s plea agreement calls for a guideline sentence of 24 to 30 months in prison and a payment of $95,099 in restitution—equal to the amount he received for allowing alleged fraudsters to use his bank account.
- Mohamed Ali Hussein, 53, of Faribault, pleaded guilty to one count or wire fraud. Mohamed claimed to serve meals to 2,500 a day at his nonprofit, Somali American Faribault Education, through Feeding Our Future during the COVID-19 pandemic. Together with Lul Bashir Ali, another defendant, Mohamed admitted to defrauding the government out of more than $5 million. Both defendants agreed to pay that same amount back in restitution and also forfeit three properties and one car.
- Lul Bashir Ali, 57, of Faribault, pleaded guilty to one count or wire fraud. She claimed to feed 1,600 children a day through her restaurant, Lido Restaurant, using Feeding Our Future. Lul admitted in court that she inflated these numbers by submitting fake attendance records and fake invoices for reimbursement from the federal government. With co-defendant Mohamed Ali Hussein, she agreed to pay back more than $5 million in restitution and also forfeit three properties and a car.
- Abdulkadir Awale, 50, pleaded guilty to one count or wire fraud. He enrolled three restaurants he owned in the federal food aid program using Feeding Our Future and Partners in Quality Care for a 21-month period between 2020 and 2022. Authorities say he stole more than $11 million and spent it on personal items, including more than $300,000 on his home mortgage, nearly $150,000 on two semi trucks, and more than $30,000 on a 2020 Chevy Traverse SUV. He agreed to pay more than $2 million in restitution.
- Qamar Hassan, 54, pleaded guilty to money laundering and conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Qamar, who lives in Brooklyn Park, owned and operated S&S Catering, which acted as a food vendor for numerous food sites participating in the federal Child Nutrition Program during the COVID-19 pandemic. She transferred more than $800,000 of the money received by S&S Catering into her own bank account and spent it for personal items, including $60,000 on a 2021 Jeep Wrangler, $20,000 on a 2020 Range Rover, and $114,000 on a Brooklyn Park townhome. Qamar also spent $345,000 on an apartment in Nairobi, Kenya, among other purchases.
- Abdikadir Kadiye, 51, pleaded guilty to wire fraud. He used his company, Hobyo Health Care Foundation, to register three meal sites in Eden Prairie, Minneapolis, and Minnetonka. Prosecutors say he stole more than $1 million throughout 2021 by claiming to provide more than 400,000 meals. His guilty plea stems from submitting a roster full of invented children’s names to receive reimbursement. He spent that money on luxury vehicles like a $100,000 BMW and housing investments. He agreed to pay $876,897 in restitution. No sentencing date has been set.
- Yusuf Ali, 41, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud andstealing nearly $280,000. Yusuf admitted in court that he worked with others to enroll a shell company called Youth Inventors Lab into the federal Child Nutrition Program to pose as a food site offering meals to disadvantaged children. According to his plea deal, Yusuf signed a “fake lease” for Youth Inventors Lab describing it to be a food site when he “knew that the location would not be used to serve meals.” Youth Innovators Lab falsely claimed that S&S Catering was the supplier of its meals. Through this relationship, Youth Innovators Lab received more than $3 million in federal food aid dollars and claimed to serve 1.3 million meals between December 2020 and June 2021, according to the plea deal.
- Sahra Nur, 63, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering. According to her indictment, Sahra operated Academy for Youth Excellence, a shell company that listed S&S Catering, a commercial food company, as the supplier of its meals. Sahra was also one of S&S Catering’s owners and operators. Federal prosecutors say S&S Catering claimed to serve 1.2 million meals to underprivileged children between December 2020 and April 2021. Sahra admitted in court that S&S Catering only prepared a fraction of those meals, yet received $6 million from the federal government. Sahra admitted to pocketing just over $5 million in food-aid money, and agreed to pay it back in restitution as part of her plea deal. She also admitted working with two other defendants to use some of the money to buy a commercial building on Lake Street, where S&S Catering operated.
