Five plead guilty in Feeding Our Future fraud scheme

Five people who were charged in connection to the Feeding Our Future scheme pleaded guilty to wire fraud this week.

According to the U.S. Attorney's office, the five people stole $14.6 million in Federal Child Nutrition Program money that was meant to feed hungry children during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The five were among a group of seven that was set to go to trial next month. One defendant remains in the trial, and another is set for a change of plea hearing next week, according to the U.S. Attorney's office.

The group was tied to 42-year-old Ikram Yusuf Mohamed, and claimed to run food distribution sites across the Twin Cities. Instead of delivering snacks and meals to kids, the group inflated claims and invoices, and solicited and received kickbacks. 

Mohamed opened multiple sites under the sponsorship of Feeding Our Future using the names of family members, the attorney's office says. 

Shakur Abdinur Abdisalam, 46, Aisha Hassan Hussein, 29, Sahra Sharif Osman, 43, and Fadumo Mohamed Yusuf, 59, all claimed to have served hundreds of thousands of meals to children. Instead, the companies they claimed to run received more than $1 million each in Federal Child Nutrition funds, according to the U.S. Attorney's office.

Documents allege some of the money meant for kids went to rent and personal spending, including furniture, vacations, eating out and nearly daily Door Dash deliveries. 

Each person pleaded guilty to one county of wire fraud. They will all be sentenced at a later date. For now, they're all out on bond but face a maximum of 20 years in prison.

Prosecutors have called the Feeding Our Future scheme the largest pandemic fraud case in the country. So far, 63 people have been convicted.