A Minnesota judge told the state’s Department of Education that it has a “real problem” after the agency suspended payments to an organization at the center of a fraud scheme that has now resulted in charges for 78 individuals.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Minnesota announced on November 24 that Abdirashid Bixi Dool was the 78th defendant charged in connection with the Feeding Our Future fraud scheme. He is charged with seven counts, including wire fraud and money laundering.
The Minnesota Department of Education notified Feeding Our Future in March 2021 that it issued a “stop pay” notice, withholding all federal funds. Feeding Our Future filed a motion to resume payments.
At a hearing on the motion on April 21, 2021, Ramsey County Judge John H. Guthmann told state attorneys, “Based on the positions you’ve taken on behalf of the department, the law that’s been given to me, you’ve got a real problem not reimbursing at this stage of the game,” according to a court transcript obtained by KSTP.
The motion was later denied as moot because the Minnesota Department of Education lifted the “stop pay” policy.
Why It Matters
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Minnesota said the Feeding Our Future fraud scheme is the largest COVID-19 fraud scheme in the country.
Prosecutors allege that Feeding Our Future recruited individuals to open Federal Child Nutrition Program sites throughout the state of Minnesota that fraudulently claimed to be serving meals to thousands of children a day during the COVID-19 pandemic. Prosecutors said the organization obtained and disbursed more than $240 million in Federal Child Nutrition Program funds.
An account claiming to represent 480 staff at the Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) said on X that Minnesota Governor Tim Walz “is 100% responsible for massive fraud in Minnesota.”
The account has since been suspended.
Newsweek reached out to Walz’s office for comment.
Walz told NBC’s Meet the Press, when asked if he takes responsibility for not stopping the fraud, “Well, certainly, I take responsibility for putting people in jail.”
What To Know
The Minnesota Judicial Branch said in a 2022 statement that Guthmann never ordered the Department of Education to resume payments to Feeding Our Future.
“The Department of Education voluntarily resumed payments and informed the court that FOF resolved the ‘serious deficiencies’ that prompted it to suspend payments temporarily. All of the MN Department of Education food reimbursement payments to FOF were made voluntarily, without any court order,” the Minnesota Judicial Branch said.
Walz’s office told KSTP that “the court made it clear that if MDE were to continue the legal fight to withhold payments, MDE would incur sanctions and legal penalties.”
In September 2022, federal prosecutors announced that 47 individuals had been charged in connection with a fraud scheme involving the nonprofit organization Feeding Our Future. More individuals have since been charged, with the 78th individual announced last week.
Over three dozen individuals have pleaded guilty to charges related to the fraud scheme, KARE 11 reported. Seven defendants have been found guilty at trial, including the organization’s executive director, Aimee Bock.
What People Are Saying
FBI Minneapolis Special Agent in Charge Alvin M. Winston Sr., in a statement in March: “Stealing from the federal government is stealing from the American people – plain and simple. The egregious fraud uncovered in the Feeding our Future case represents the blatant betrayal of public trust. These criminals stole hundreds of millions in federal funding meant to feed hungry children during a crisis and instead funneled it into luxury homes, cars and lavish lifestyles while families struggled.”
Acting U.S. Attorney Lisa D. Kirkpatrick, in a statement in March: “The defendants falsely claimed to have served 91 million meals, for which they fraudulently received nearly $250 million in federal funds. That money did not go to feed kids. Instead, it was used to fund their lavish lifestyles.”
What Happens Next
Criminal proceedings are expected to continue against defendants who are awaiting trial.
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