Man listed as 78th person charged in Feeding Our Future scheme pleads guilty

A man labeled by the Department of Justice as the 78th person charged in the Feeding Our Future fraud scheme has pleaded guilty, according to a court document filed in the U.S. District Court of Minnesota on Monday.

Abdirashid Bixi Dool pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud. Six other counts he was federally charged with last November — three counts of wire fraud and three counts of engaging in monetary transactions in property derived from specified unlawful activity — are expected to be dropped as part of a plea agreement, according to court documents. He was 36 years old when he was indicted by a grand jury.

According to the indictment, Dool co-operated and served on the boards of two Minnesota nonprofits, Bilaal Mosque Inc. and Multicultural Resource Center Inc. He was the president of the latter organization. 

Dool and another person, identified as a conspirator, applied in March 2021 to operate the two organizations as food program sites under the sponsorship of Feeding Our Future, court documents said. Meals at sites across Minnesota during the COVID-19 pandemic were funded by the Federal Child Nutrition Program.

Dool claimed to operate both sites, according to the indictment, which went on to say that he, at times, completed meal count sheets that said over 40,000 meals were being served to children every week.

"However, as Dool knew, those meal counts were false and inflated," the indictment said.

He then submitted the meal count sheets for reimbursement, court documents said. 

Prosecutors accused Dool of turning in false invoices that claimed to list food purchased by both businesses when "very little" food was bought. The indictment said he also turned in fake lists of the names of children fed at both sites, which were reported to be in Pelican Rapids and Moorhead.

Between March 2021 and February 2022, the two nonprofits received around $1.1 million in federal funds through Feeding Our Future, according to court documents, though "little of this money" was used to purchase food. 

Dool and the conspirator, who controlled the bank accounts of both organizations, transferred "most" of the money to family and Dool, according to court documents. He allegedly used the funds to "travel, enrich himself, and buy real estate."

As of Monday, a sentencing date for Dool has not been set.