The jury convicted five men Minnesota Residents and two others on Friday for their roles in a scheme to steal more than $40 million from a program that provided meals to children during the coronavirus pandemic. The case drew widespread attention after someone tried to bribe a juror with $120,000 in cash.
That juror was dismissed before deliberations began, and another juror who was told about it was dismissed as well. FBI investigation The attempted bribery case is still ongoing, and no arrests have been announced.
Fraud trial juror claims she received a $120,000 payout and was promised more if she voted to acquit
After the verdicts were announced, Assistant U.S. Attorney Joe Thompson described the bribery attempt as “an attack on our criminal justice system” and told reporters that authorities would investigate with all their resources. He had no other comment on the issue and expressed satisfaction with the convictions in the fraud case.
“They lied and they fraudulently claimed they were feeding millions of meals to children in Minnesota during COVID. The defendants took advantage of the COVID-19 pandemic to defraud the state of Minnesota and steal millions of dollars,” Thompson said. “This conduct was not only criminal, it was corrupt and shameless.”
This photo provided by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Minnesota shows cash from a bag that was left at a juror’s home in a major fraud case outside Minneapolis, Minnesota, on June 2, 2024. Authorities have seized cellphones and taken all seven defendants into custody as investigators try to figure out who attempted to bribe the jury to acquit them of charges of stealing more than $40 million from a program to feed children during the pandemic. (US Attorney’s Office for Minnesota, via AP)
Defense attorneys argued at trial that their clients had provided real food to real people.
The seven are the first of more than 70 people to be prosecuted in what federal prosecutors have called one of the country’s largest cases. COVID-19-related fraudTaking advantage of rules designed to keep the economy from collapsing during the pandemic. In total, the Minnesota plan took more than $250 million in federal funds, of which only $50 million was recovered, officials said.
The food aid came from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and was administered by the state, which funneled food money through nonprofit organizations and other partners. As rules were relaxed to give aid to the needy, the defendants allegedly billed for meals never served, ran shell companies, laundered money, engaged in passport fraud, and took bribes.
Federal prosecutors said only a fraction of the money the defendants received through a nonprofit called Feeding Our Future was spent on feeding low-income children, while the rest was spent on luxury cars, jewelry, travel and property.
The defendants in this trial faced several charges, including conspiracy, wire fraud, money laundering, and bribery in federal programs. Each defendant was charged based on their alleged role, and each had their own attorney. In the end, the jurors returned a split verdict.
Abdiaziz Shafie Farah, Mohamed Jama Ismail, Abdimajid Mohamed Noor, Mukhtar Mohamed Shariff and Hayat Mohamed Noor were found guilty on most of the counts against them. Abdiaziz Farah was described by prosecutors as the ringleader of the seven and faced the most charges; he was convicted on 23 of the 24 counts against him.
Said Shafie Farah and Abdiwahab Maalim Aftin were acquitted of all the charges they were facing. Aftin was charged with three counts, the lowest of all seven defendants.
Aftin’s attorney, Andrew Garvis, later said the case was complicated.
“The government had a lot of evidence and the jury took its time to deliberate,” Garvis said. “That’s what we want in the system, so we appreciate that.”
Said Farrah’s attorney, Steven Schleicher, said his client was pleased to be acquitted.
Lawyers for Abdimajid Noor, Hayat Noor, Abdiaziz Farrah and Ismail did not immediately respond to phone messages seeking comment. Sharif’s lawyer, Frederic Goetz, declined to comment.
One thing common to the defense arguments was that the investigators failed to see that they served real food to real children.
A sentencing hearing will be scheduled at a later date.
An Associated Press analysis published last June detailed how thieves across the country siphoned billions of dollars from federal COVID-19 relief money. Fraudsters potentially stole more than $280 billion, while another $123 billion was wasted or misspent. Combined, the losses amounted to 10% of the $4.3 trillion the government distributed last fall. About 3,200 people have been charged and about $1.4 billion in stolen pandemic aid has been seized, according to the U.S. Justice Department.
After reporting a bribery attempt in the Minnesota case, the judge ordered all seven defendants to submit their cellphones so investigators could look for evidence. He also ordered all seven to be taken into custody and sequestered the jury.
According to an FBI agent’s affidavit, a woman rang the doorbell of “Juror #52″‘s home in the Minneapolis suburb of Spring Lake Park the night before the case went to the jury. A relative opened the door and she was handed a gift bag containing a curly ribbon and pictures of flowers and butterflies. The woman said it was a “gift” for the jury.
“The woman told the relative to tell Juror #52 to declare her not guilty and that there would be more gifts tomorrow,” the agent wrote. “After the woman left, the relative looked in the gift bag and discovered there was a large amount of cash.”
The juror called police as soon as he got home and handed them the bag containing bundles of $100, $50 and $20 notes, worth a total of about $120,000.
The woman who left the bag knew the juror’s first name, the agent said. The jurors’ names have not been made public, but people with access to the list include prosecutors, defense attorneys — and seven defendants.
“It is highly likely that someone with access to the juror’s personal information was conspiring with the woman to pay at least $120,000 in bribes,” the FBI agent wrote. He also said the alleged fraud conspiracy at the center of the trial involved electronic communications, including text messages and emails.
A few days later, while the remaining jurors were deliberating, FBI agents searched the home of Abdiaziz Shafie Farrah, according to a neighbor who witnessed the search and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because of security concerns. The FBI confirmed that agents were in the city where Farrah lives, but did not elaborate. It was unclear whether the search was connected to the bribery investigation.
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The federal charges of bribing a juror and influencing a juror carry a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison.
Eighteen others pleaded guilty in the massive $250 million fraud scheme. Those awaiting trial include Amy Bock, founder of Feeding Our Future. She has insisted on her innocence, saying she never stole and saw no evidence of fraud among her subcontractors.
