The United States Attorney for Minnesota has indicted defendant number 75 in the massive Feeding Our Future fraud case. She fits a familiar profile — she is described by the Star Tribune as “a Burnsville woman” — and her scheme fits the familiar modus operandi. Ms. Fidhin was fiddlin’ on the taxpayers’ dime:
Muna Wais Fidhin, 44, has been charged in a ten-count indictment with three counts of Wire Fraud, four counts of Federal Programs Bribery, and three counts of Money Laundering for her role in the Feeding Our Future fraud scheme, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Joseph H. Thompson….
In 2020, Fidhin enrolled her company, M5 Café, in the Federal Child Nutrition Program under the sponsorship of Feeding Our Future. Fidhin later created a nonprofit organization called M5 Care, which, in 2021, she also enrolled in the program under another sponsor. Fidhin fraudulently claimed to be serving meals to 500 children a day, seven days a week, at her sites. In reality, Fidhin served few, if any, children at her sites. Fidhin submitted fake invoices purporting to document the purchase of food for use in feeding these children.
In all, Fidhin fraudulently claimed to have served more than 300,000 meals at her two food sites, for which she claimed to be entitled to approximately $1 million in Federal Child Nutrition Program funds.
Fidhin did not use these funds to purchase food to feed children. Instead, she used the money to pay off her home mortgage, to purchase a car, and to fund her lifestyle. Fidhin also wired tens of thousands of dollars out of the country. She paid approximately $27,000 in kickbacks to a Feeding Our Future employee in exchange for his sponsorship and submission of her fraudulent claims.
Speaking of wiring thousands of dollars out of the country, Mr. Thompson also announced the indictment of defendant number 74 on Wednesday. He is a man who represents the Kenyan connection in the case. The Department of Justice press release provides an excess of material to chew over:
Ahmednaji Maalim Aftin Sheikh, 28, a resident of Kenya, was indicted today with Conspiracy to Commit International Money Laundering for his role in the Feeding Our Future fraud scheme…Sheikh is a Kenyan national who helped launder and send abroad millions of dollars in Feeding Our Future fraud proceeds for his brother, Abdiaziz Farah. Abdiaziz Farah was the leader of the “Empire” group and the lead defendant in the first Feeding Our Future trial. Earlier this month, United States District Judge Nancy E. Brasel sentenced Abdiaziz Farah to 28 years in prison for his role in the fraud scheme….
Defendant Ahmednaji Sheikh is a citizen and resident of Kenya. Sheikh helped his brother, Abdiaziz Farah, launder and hide his fraud proceeds abroad, beyond the reach of federal law enforcement. Abdiaziz Farah sent millions of dollars in fraud proceeds abroad, including to Sheikh. Sheikh received those funds and helped his brother conceal the nature, location, source, ownership, and control of the fraud proceeds by investing them in Kenyan real estate through a series of sham corporate entities and bulk cash smuggling.
Sheikh helped Abdiaziz Farah use fraud proceeds to purchase a 20 percent stake in a Kenyan real estate company. For example, in April 2021, Abdiaziz Farah purchased an apartment building in the South C neighborhood of Nairobi, located adjacent to Nairobi National Park. Defendant Sheikh also helped Abdiaziz Farah use proceeds to purchase land in Mandera Town, a city located in Kenya, on the boarder with Somalia and Ethiopia.
Defendant Sheikh and Abdiaziz Farah regularly exchanged text message about their ill-gotten wealth. For example, on July 3, 2021, Abdiaziz Farah texted Sheikh, “You are gonna be the richest 25 year old InshaAllah.” Sheikh responded, “I love you so much.” Abdiaziz Farah and Sheikh also exchanged messages and photos of the cash that was sent from Farah in the United States to Sheikh in Kenya.
Time for a prayer break. Let’s see if we can follow the twists and turns:
As the indictment notes, Individual S.D. is Abdiaziz Farah’s sister-in-law; she is the sister of Abdiaziz Farah’s wife. Individual S.D. is a naturalized U.S. citizen who lives in Minnesota. She worked at one of the companies that sponsored Abdiaziz Farah’s fraudulent participation in the federal child nutrition program.
In October 2021, Abdiaziz Farah purchased a townhome in Burnsville, Minnesota for $575,000 using the proceeds of his fraud scheme. Individual S.D. then moved into that townhome.
On December 30, 2021, Sheikh married Individual S.D., in Nairobi, Kenya. Individual S.D. flew to Nairobi on December 21, 2021 and returned to the United States on January 11, 2022.
Now let us consider the immigration angles:
On June 9, 2023, Individual S.D. filed a petition for alien relative seeking to sponsor Sheikh’s immigration to and permanent residency in the United States. On the petition, Individual S.D. identified Sheikh as her husband.
On November 7, 2024, Sheikh applied to enter the 2026 Diversity Immigrant Visa lottery. The Diversity Immigrant Visa program, also known as the “green card lottery,” is an annual immigration lottery run by the United States Department of State. The program seeks to diversify the immigrant population of the United States by selecting applicants from countries with low number of immigrants. Each year, the State Department issues immigrant visas followed by permanent resident cards (or “green cards”) to approximately 55,000 winners of the green card lottery. On his application, Sheikh stated that he was unmarried.
Fortunately, Mr. Sheikh did not win the immigration lottery. He remains in Kenya. Unfortunately, the United States does not have an extradition treaty with Kenya. It is therefore unclear whether Mr. Sheikh will ever stand trial in the District of Minnesota. Now that he is under indictment, however, he will not be allowed into the United States unless and until he is extradited. So there is that.
