The Feeding Our Future fraud scheme continues to grow in Minnesota, as prosecutors have announced charges against a 74th person who is accused of being connected to the largest COVID-19 fraud scheme in the United States. 

According to the Department of Justice, the 28-year-old Kenyan man has been indicted with one count of conspiracy to commit international money laundering. Prosecutors allege he helped launder and then send millions of dollars out of the United States from the fraud proceeds for his brother. He also allegedly helped hide fraud proceeds abroad, according to the DOJ, by investing the money into Kenyan real estate and by smuggling cash.

The real estate included buying a 20% stake in a company, buying an apartment building in a neighborhood next to Nairobi National Park and buying land in a city bordering Somalia and Ethiopia 

In a 10-page indictment, prosecutors detail conversations between the brothers, including images of more than $130,000 and $200,000 in cash plus a receipt showing a $300,000 money transfer. The document goes on to say a Minnesota woman flew to Nairobi, Kenya, in late December of 2021 and then married the suspect shortly after. She returned to the U.S. in January of 2022, and, according to the document, filed a petition to sponsor his immigration and permanent residency in the United States in June of 2023, listing him as her husband.

More than a year later, the indictment says the suspect applied to enter the 2026 Diversity Visa lottery, which is run by the Department of State by choosing immigration applicants from countries with low numbers of immigrants. However, on his application, the man said he was unmarried. 

The man's brother was sentenced last month to 28 years in prison for his role in the fraud scheme, and still needs to be sentenced for a separate but related case. He has pleaded guilty to charges stemming from an attempted juror bribe during the trial of seven Feeding Our Future defendants. 

"I share the outrage of my fellow Minnesotans at seeing money meant to feed hungry children converted into fortunes half a world away," said Acting U.S. Attorney Joseph Thompson in part. "It is another window into the many fraud schemes that have seeped into every corner of our state. But we cannot shrink from confronting this crisis. We must come together as Minnesotans and demand that the frauds stop now. We must protect the future of our children and our state."