MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - Ten more people have been charged in connection to the massive Feeding Our Future fraud case, bringing the total number of people charged thus far to 60 people.
Fifty people were previously charged in the scheme federal officials have called the largest pandemic fraud in the country. Authorities allege the fraud scheme took at least $250 million from the federal child nutrition program — money that was intended to help feed children during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The charges against those allegedly involved include conspiracy, wire fraud, money laundering and bribery.
U.S. Attorney Andrew Luger on Monday held a news conference announcing the new charges, noting the new defendants used similar tactics to those previously charged to carry out their scheme by falsely claiming they were feeding thousands of children..
They allegedly submitted false reimbursement sheets with phony names of children, and used false invoices to make it appear they were purchasing large amounts of food when they were not, Luger said.
Those charged are alleged to have operated fake food sites in Pelican Rapids, Faribault, Burnsville, Minnetonka, Bloomington, Minneapolis and St. Paul, Luger said.
Kawsar Jama, who is among those charged Monday, allegedly claimed to operate a number of feeding sites in towns in Minnesota, including in Pelican Rapids, Luger said. At that site, Jama claimed to be serving 2,560 meals per day to needy children despite the town having a population of 2,500.
U.S. Attorney Andrew Luger outlined the charges against the 10 people charged Monday in the Feeding Our Future fraud scheme.
Luger said Jama would use phony invoices to make it look like she was buying food for all those people, despite not serving any children. None of the children on the reimbursement forms matched the children in the schools in Pelican Rapids.
Like those previously charged, Luger says the 10 charged on Monday spent most of the money they stole on themselves, including on luxury vehicles and in one case an aircraft that was to be sent to Kenya. One person allegedly laundered the money they stole by buying a laundromat.
So far, investigators have seized $66.6 million in assets, including property, bank accounts, real estate, and $4 million worth of vehicles.
More charges are expected in the future as the investigation continues, Luger said. Six people have already pleaded guilty in connection to the scheme.
This was the scandal that should have ended the career of Minn Gov Walz and Att Gen Ellison. Somehow the media convinced a lot of voters that these two shouldn't be blamed for what was obviously their fault and they both were reelected in 2022.
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