Anger is building up among the leadership of the United States regarding the theft of up to $300 million (Sh38.7 billion) in by organisations that purported to be feeding needy children during the Covid pandemic.
This is due to renewed attention on the fraud that happened between 2020 and 2022, where 78 people have been charged in court — with 72 of them being of Somali descent according to US Attorney-General Pamela Bondi.
At the same time, the Daily Nation has been digging up the stories of some of the suspects and convicts in the scandal. The case against the one suspect identified as a Kenyan sheds light on how hard cash was sent from the US in boxes to be spent in buying real estate, including a house in South C and a plot in Mandera. More on that later.
The fury in the US comes at a time when there is a raging debate on the place of immigrants in general and those of Somali origin in particular. With strong opinions from either side of the country’s political divide, senior officials in President Donald Trump’s administration have not been mincing their words.
Ms Bondi took to X on Tuesday morning to declare that “the people of Minnesota deserve better” in a post that subtly pointed an accusing finger at the state’s governor, Tim Walz of the Democratic Party.
Describing it as “the largest Covid-19 fraud case charged in the country”, Ms Bondi stated that perpetrators of the scheme claimed to serve children millions of free meals during Covid.
“Few, if any, were ever fed,” she said.
She further noted that due to the scandal, 78 defendants have been charged to date, with 57 defendants convicted.
“Seventy-two of the defendants are of Somalian descent [and] five defendants are currently fugitives in Africa,” she added. She did not specify the African country holding those running away from justice.
An aerial view of Karibu Palms Resort, Diani beach. A property at the hotel is part of what Liban Alishire has agreed to forfeit after pleading guilty to fraud in the United States.
Photo credit: Pool
Then there is Tom Emmer, the Majority Whip of the US House of Representatives, who wants every person of Somali extraction who has been found guilty in the fraud to be stripped of their US citizenship.
“I have three words regarding Somalis who have committed fraud against American taxpayers: Send them home. If they’re here illegally, deport them immediately. If they’re naturalised citizens, revoke their citizenship and deport them quickly thereafter. If we need to change the law to do that, I will. Our nation will not tolerate those who take advantage of our charity and refuse to assimilate into our culture,” he posted on X on Tuesday morning.
Mr Kash Patel, the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), termed the fraud “just the tip of a very large iceberg”.
“We will continue to follow the money and protect children, and this investigation very much remains ongoing. Furthermore, many are also being referred to immigrations officials for possible further denaturalisation and deportation proceedings where eligible,” he stated.
FBI agents raid the nonprofit organization Feeding Our Future in St. Anthony, Minnesota on January 20, 2022.
Photo credit: Reuters
Posting on X on Sunday, Mr Patel said the FBI had taken note of the renewed attention on the Minnesota fraud on social media.
“However, even before the public conversation escalated online, the FBI had [increased] personnel and investigative resources to Minnesota to dismantle large-scale fraud schemes exploiting federal programmes. Fraud that steals from taxpayers and robs vulnerable children will remain a top FBI priority in Minnesota and nationwide,” he wrote.
The US Department of Homeland Security posted on Monday that it is “on the ground in Minneapolis [the largest city in Minnesota], going door-to-door at suspected fraud sites”.
As the matter plays up on the lips of Americans, drawing blame between Democrats and Republicans, stories of the people involved in the matter are drawing fresh attention. As at 2022 when the first indictment list came out, the majority of them were in their thirties or under. The oldest suspect was 63. Below are the profiles of some of them.
Abdiaziz Shafii Farah: A 36-year-old former refugee, he has been described by the US Attorney-General as the “scheme leader”. He was one of the key persons in the arrangement where a Minnesota-based organisation called Feeding Our Future, categorised as a sponsor, worked with numerous smaller organisations called sites that pretended to be feeding vulnerable children to cushion them from the vagaries of the Covid-19 pandemic.
In August, he was sentenced to 28 years in prison that will be followed by three years of supervised release. The Department of Justice (DoJ) says that Abdiaziz personally pocketed “more than $8 million [Sh1 billion] during his 18 months of involvement in the fraud”.
His communications with other people as the scheme went on were reviewed by the authorities. In one of the messages, he told someone: “In 7 months, if things stay the same, you are a multi-millionaire with 0 debt”.
In another communication, he said: “Bro, the next multi-legit millionaires will be me and you.”
Some of the assets he bought through his ill-gotten wealth include five luxury vehicles “bought in about six months” as per the DoJ. They included a Sh38.7 million Porsche, a GMC truck and a Tesla. He also bought land in Minnesota and Kentucky. DoJ says he invested about Sh541 million in buying the properties.
Some of the money crossed borders to Kenya, where he bought “real estate and a high-rise apartment building” as per the DoJ, which added that his overseas money is beyond the reach of American law enforcement.
Unless he is granted parole or his sentence is lessened, he will be 64 when he leaves jail. He is likely to get more years behind bars because he was part of a scheme that tried to bribe a juror with $120,000 (Sh15.5 million) in cash to return a “not guilty” verdict. He is awaiting sentencing on the juror bribery matter.
Ahmednaji Maalim Aftin Sheikh: The 28-year-old was indicted in September, and is one of the more recent to be put on trial regarding the fraud. He is listed as the 74th of the 78 suspects in court on the matter.
The DoJ identified him as a Kenyan national when it announced his indictment. He is the first person in the scheme we encountered whom the DoJ has categorically identified as a Kenyan. It is worth noting that he has not yet been found guilty.
DoJ says Ahmednaji is a brother of Abdiaziz, the one serving a 28-year term for his role in the vice.
“Ahmednaji is a Kenyan national who helped launder and send abroad millions of dollars in Feeding Our Future fraud proceeds for his brother, Abdiaziz,” said the DoJ, adding that he helped put the money “beyond the reach of federal law enforcement”.
“Ahmednaji received those funds and helped his brother conceal the nature, location, source, ownership, and control of the fraud proceeds by investing them in Kenyan real estate through a series of sham corporate entities and bulk cash smuggling,” the DoJ stated.
From left: Abdiaziz Farah, Abdimajid Nur, Hayat Nur, Mohamed Ismail, Mukhtar Shariff, Abdiwahab Aftin and Said Farah. (Background) Karibu Palms Resort in Diani which convict Liban Alishire bought using part of his stolen Sh315m.
Photo credit: Pool
“He helped Abdiaziz Farah use fraud proceeds to purchase a 20 percent stake in a Kenyan real estate company. For example, in April 2021, Abdiaziz purchased an apartment building in the South C neighbourhood of Nairobi, located adjacent to Nairobi National Park. Ahmednaji also helped Abdiaziz use proceeds to purchase land in Mandera Town, a city located in Kenya on the border with Somalia and Ethiopia.”
Said the DoJ: “For example, on July 3, 2021, Abdiaziz texted Ahmednaji, ‘You are gonna be the richest 25-year-old InshaAllah.’ Sheikh responded, ‘I love you so much.’”
It added: “On August 29, 2021, Ahmednaji sent Abdiaziz a photo of $138,000 in cash. On December 9, 2021, Ahmednaji sent Abdiaziz a photo of banker’s boxes filled with $270,000 in cash that Farah sent to Sheikh.”
Liban Yasin Alishire: In 2023, he pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and one count of money laundering. He entered a plea agreement that saw him surrender a boat, cars, a house in Nairobi and the Karibu Palms Resort in Diani. He was then aged 43.
