Feeding Our Future suspect on FBI's most wanted fraudster list taken into custody at MSP Airport
A man charged in the Feeding Our Future scheme who has been on the run since January 2024 and was recently added to the FBI's most wanted fraudster list peacefully surrendered to law enforcement in Minneapolis Wednesday afternoon.
Said Abdullahi Ereg was added to the list on Thursday, and indicated the next day that he would return to the United States. He traveled from Kenya via London to Minneapolis, where he was taken into custody, according to U.S. Attorney Daniel Rosen.
Ereg faces federal charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud and money laundering, and is accused of taking more than $4.2 million in Federal Child Nutrition Program payments meant to serve hungry children.
Between April 2020 and April 2021, he allegedly claimed to have served over 1.4 million meals to children in need, but instead used the funds to finance a lavish lifestyle.
More than 70 people were charged in the $250 million Feeding Our Future scandal. The ringleader, Aimee Bock, orchestrated a scheme in which dozens of people diverted government money meant to feed hungry children. She was sentenced to more than 40 years in prison.
A report released by the Republican-led House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform alleged that senior Minnesota officials, including Democrats Gov. Tim Walz and Attorney General Keith Ellison, ignored clear warning signs of fraud in federal programs for years.
The 205-page report released Monday estimates roughly $300 million in meal program fraud and flagged potentially $9 billion more in questionable medicaid payments.
A Walz spokesperson said the committee is "nothing more than a joke," adding that Walz "is glad to see fraudsters are going to prison. If the committee is concerned about corruption, they should investigate why President Trump continues to let fraudsters out of prison."
Ellison's spokesperson said his office "disagrees with much of the contents of the report," and says it is "riddled with inaccuracies and misrepresentations in an effort to politicize the issue of fraud."
