Feeding Our Future fraud suspect arrested in Somalia after four years

Abdikerm Eidleh was arrested in Somalia after more than four years on the run. The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Minnesota identified him in 2022 as Abdikerm Abdelahi Eidleh, then 39, of Burnsville, and accused him of helping steer one of the largest pandemic-era fraud schemes in the country.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Minnesota charged Eidleh with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy to commit federal programs bribery, federal programs bribery, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and money laundering. Prosecutors said he worked as a Feeding Our Future employee and played a key role in recruiting and sponsoring sites that received federal meal-program money, including Stigma-Free Willmar, Stigma-Free Mankato, Shamsia Hopes, and ASA Limited.

Court filings lay out a web of payments tied to his role in the operation. One filing says Mohamud paid Eidleh more than $225,000 in bribes and kickbacks in exchange for sponsoring and facilitating Stigma-Free Willmar’s fraudulent participation. Another says Abshir paid more than $100,000 tied to Stigma-Free Mankato. A separate filing says Ahmed paid more than $49,000 connected to ASA Limited. Another says one defendant paid Eidleh $5,000 in kickbacks, and ASA Limited paid him an additional $49,000.

Feeding Our Future opened more than 250 Federal Child Nutrition Program sites in Minnesota and grew from about $3.4 million in federal funds disbursed in 2019 to nearly $200 million in 2021, prosecutors say. The scheme took advantage of pandemic-era changes meant to keep children fed even as schools and community programs were disrupted.

Eidleh had remained outside the United States while the case moved forward. U.S. Attorney Daniel Rosen said, “The chapter for Feeding Our Future might be closing, but we’re still in the beginning of making sure we protect the American taxpayer.”