Feeding Our Future fraudster pleads guilty; used funds on mansion, vehicles and credit cards AlphaNews.org
Ahmed Abdullahi Ghedi, a 35-year-old man, pleaded guilty on June 26 to wire fraud and money laundering for his part in the $250 million Feeding Our Future fraud scheme.
According to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Minnesota, this development marks the 47th conviction in the ongoing fraud case that was first uncovered some three years ago. In short, the scheme involved people falsely claiming to feed children and receiving reimbursements for those meals through a federal child nutrition program.
To date, more than 70 individuals have been charged for their roles in the scheme. The leader of the Feeding Our Future scheme, Aimee Bock, was convicted earlier this year.
In its statement about Ghedi, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said the 35-year-old ran a child nutrition site in St. Paul that falsely claimed to serve meals. That site was operated via a company Ghedi and others set up called ASA Limited LLC. Shortly after setting up the site, Ghedi and other co-conspirators reported that the site served 2,000 to 3,000 children daily.
Prosecutors said Ghedi and others claimed they gave out more than 1.6 million meals at the St. Paul site between September 2020 and September 2021.
“To accomplish his scheme, [Ghedi] and his co-conspirators prepared and submitted inflated meal counts, fabricated invoices, and fake attendance rosters of purported children,” said the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
After receiving reimbursements for those meals, Ghedi sent more than $2 million to bank accounts for a shell company. With those fraudulent funds, the 35-year-old spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on vehicles and credit card charges. Ghedi also put roughly $560,000 toward buying a Minneapolis mansion and an adjoining property.
Additionally, prosecutors said Ghedi paid $5,000 in kickbacks to a Feeding Our Future employee, and ASA Limited LLC paid the same employee another $49,000 in kickbacks.
“In total, Ghedi and his co-conspirators caused a loss of $7.2 million to Federal Child Nutrition Programs based on fraudulent claims submitted through Feeding Our Future,” said the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
A sentencing hearing for Ghedi is scheduled at a later date.
Symone Harms
Symone Harms is a Media Production and Business Marketing student at Bethel University. She is actively involved in The Royals Investment Fund, The 25, theatre, and other leadership positions. She also cohosts Rooted, a podcast dedicated to being rooted in truth, growing in freedom, and prospering in life. A Minnesota native with a passion for storytelling and digital media, she aspires to a career in broadcasting as a news anchor and reporter.