Minneapolis man becomes 47th person convicted in $250 million Feeding Our Future fraud scheme
A 35-year-old Minneapolis man pleaded guilty to his role in what federal prosecutors say is the largest pandemic fraud case in the country, Acting U.S. Attorney Joseph H. Thompson announced Thursday.
Court documents state that Ahmed Ghedi pleaded guilty to wire fraud and money laundering. His sentencing will be scheduled at a later date. He is the 47th person convicted in the $250 million Feeding Our Future fraud scheme, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office in Minnesota.
Prosecutors say Ghed, like many of those convicted in the case, fraudulently claimed to be running a child nutrition site, feeding thousands of children a day in St. Paul and took federal COVID-19 relief funds to do so.
Over nearly one year, Ghedi deposited more than $2 million in Federal Child Nutrition Program funds into the bank account of a shell company he created, according to court documents. He used the funds to purchase more than $245,000 in motor vehicles and more than $200,000 in credit card spending.
Additionally, Ghedi used approximately $560,000 in fraudulently obtained funds towards the purchase of a mansion-turned-office building and adjoining property in south Minneapolis. Both the property and a 2021 Jeep Grand Cherokee will be forfeited to the United States, prosecutors say.
Ghedi reportedly paid a Feeding Our Future employee $5,000 in kickbacks in exchange for sponsoring his business's participation in the program. His company then paid the same employee an additional $49,000 in kickbacks.
Court documents say Feeding Our Future received nearly $400,000 in administrative fees for sponsoring the participation of Ghedi's business in the program.
The U.S. Attorney's Office in Minnesota says Ghedi received $7.2 million total from the Federal Child Nutrition Program through fraudulent claims.
Earlier this year, Aimee Bock was found guilty on multiple criminal counts, including conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit federal programs bribery. Bock, the founder and executive director of Feeding Our Future, was found in court to have orchestrated the defrauding of the Federal Child Nutrition Program out of a quarter of a billion dollars. Salim Said, a co-defendant in Bock's trial, was also convicted on multiple counts.
Dozens of people were charged in connection with the scheme.
