Federal prosecutors have sentenced another defendant in Minnesota’s sprawling Feeding Our Future fraud case, marking the latest chapter in what authorities call the nation’s largest COVID-19-related scam, with losses now estimated to approach $1 billion across multiple programs.

MINNESOTA FRAUD PROBE DEEPENS

“87 folks have been charged. Of those, 78 are Somali.” — @ChuckAFlint

Flint details how alleged welfare fraud in Minnesota was uncovered and how funds were moved overseas through hard-to-trace transfers.@stevegrubershow pic.twitter.com/2hxhqhBgCX

— Real America’s Voice (RAV) (@RealAmVoice) December 9, 2025

Abdimajid Mohamed Nur, 36, received a 10-year prison term last month for his role in stealing over $47 million from federal child nutrition funds. Prosecutors said Nur created fraudulent meal counts and invoices, claiming to serve 18 million meals at more than 30 sites, many of which were empty parking lots or nonexistent. He laundered proceeds through shell companies in the U.S. and Kenya, using the money for vehicles, jewelry, and even a fake college degree.

The Feeding Our Future nonprofit exploited relaxed rules during the pandemic to siphon $300 million meant for feeding low-income children. Instead, funds were spent on luxury cars, overseas properties, and cash transfers. To date, 78 people have been charged, with 56 convictions, including ringleader Aimee Bock. The government has recovered about $75 million, but much of the rest may be gone for good.

Many of the defendants in these cases are from Minnesota’s Somali diaspora, where fraud took root in social services programs over the last five years. Prosecutors say individuals set up companies that billed state agencies for millions in unprovided services. In the Feeding Our Future case alone, 77 people faced indictments. Funds were routed to Kenya and Somalia, with some traced to the Al-Qaeda-linked group Al Shabab. Another scheme involved false autism diagnoses for Somali children, stealing $14 million from a federal assistance program.

State payments for autism diagnosis and treatment ballooned from $1 million in 2017 to over $220 million in 2024, with federal officials linking much of the surge to fraud. Providers allegedly billed for unprovided services after recruiting children into programs.

Housing stabilization services saw similar abuse, with $302 million paid out over 4.5 years, far exceeding the $12 million annual budget. Eight defendants face wire fraud charges for claiming services never delivered to vulnerable adults. The Minnesota Department of Human Services has banned 115 businesses from Medicaid billing and ended the program in October.

Combined, these schemes total more than $1 billion, and Acting U.S. Attorney Joseph Thompson warned investigations could push the figure higher. Oversight failures at the Minnesota Department of Education enabled the initial theft, ignoring red flags as early as 2019. A state audit called the department’s monitoring “inadequate.” In response, Gov. Tim Walz ordered a centralized fraud unit, which will cost taxpayers $54 million through 2029, on top of the original losses.

Rep. Ilhan Omar, whose district includes much of Minneapolis’s Somali community, has addressed the scandals. She returned campaign donations from involved individuals years ago and sent a letter to the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture urging an investigation into the fraud. 

“This also has an impact on Somalis, because we are also taxpayers in Minnesota,” Omar said. “We also could have benefited from the program and the money that was stolen.” She added that the fraud has been frustrating for the community, which is upset about the theft.

Now, echoes of Minnesota’s troubles are emerging in Maine. A whistleblower has alleged similar Medicaid fraud by Gateway Community Services, a Somali-owned nonprofit in Portland founded by Somali-American CEO Abdullahi Ali. The company received $28.8 million in state funds from 2019 to 2024. Former employee Christopher Bernardini claims the firm manipulated records to bill for unprovided home health services to low-income and disabled clients, including falsifying visit logs and timecards.

Republican State Sen. Matt Harrington demanded a full investigation after reports surfaced in May. “This is an outrageous betrayal of Maine taxpayers,” Harrington said. Federal authorities are reviewing the allegations, with House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer encouraging more whistleblowers to expose state-level abuses. Maine officials have not commented on specifics, but a prior 2022 notice cited Gateway for $776,000 in overpayments. No charges have been filed yet, but parallels to Minnesota, including rapid spending growth and community ties, have prompted calls for audits.