President Donald Trump and congressional allies are probing Minnesota’s sprawling “Feeding Our Future” fraud scheme and pressing federal agencies to recover millions in stolen taxpayer dollars, including funds that were used by convicted individuals in the scheme to finance purchases of luxury vehicles and homes that are out of reach for most Americans.

Republicans say the renewed investigations are necessary because, despite dozens of convictions, federal officials are still working to recover only a fraction of the stolen money — a process that has uncovered not only the high-end vehicles and homes but also designer goods, and large amounts of cash tied to the scheme. 

Meanwhile, city officials in Minneapolis are bracing for an influx of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents after the agency announced plans for a new operation in the state.

At issue is a $250 million fraud scheme that exploited a children’s nutrition program funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and overseen by the state of Minnesota during the COVID-19 pandemic, with the stated goal of providing food to school-aged children. 

The scheme exploited the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s decision to waive many of its standard requirements for the Federal Child Nutrition Program during the pandemic, including relaxing its requirement for non-school-based distributors to participate in the program.

WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT MINNESOTA’S ‘FEEDING OUR FUTURE’ FRAUD AT THE CENTER OF TRUMP’S LATEST CRACKDOWN

Conspirators charged in the scheme falsely claimed to have served millions of meals to children during the pandemic, but instead used the money for personal gain, according to FBI and federal court documents reviewed by Fox News Digital.

They are also accused of fabricating invoices, submitting fake records, and falsely claiming to have handed out thousands of meals to children across hundreds of food distribution “sites” across the state — when many, in fact, had provided none at all. 

At least 77 individuals in Minnesota have been indicted as part of the fraud scheme, as Fox News Digital previously reported, and it is believed to be the largest pandemic-era scheme in U.S. history.

According to FBI and court documents reviewed by Fox News Digital, many of the convicted fraudsters exploited the taxpayer fund to live lavishly — purchasing real estate, pricey vehicles and houses, and seeking to funnel additional funding into more fraudulent schemes to further exploit the government. 

One defendant, Abdiaziz Farah, was sentenced to 28 years in federal prison earlier this  year for his role in the Feeding Our Future scheme. 

According to FBI exhibits and court documents reviewed by Fox News Digital, Farah used his role as a co-owner of Empire Cuisine and Market to exploit the COVID-era nutrition program for millions of dollars in personal gain, which he used to purchase commercial property and real estate, including two lakefront lots, “with the aim of building himself a multi-million-dollar home.” 

FBI documents submitted to the court paint a picture of the goods that were seized — among them, six Rolex watches, cars, thousands of dollars in luxury clothing, designer purses,  and more. 

Other funds were funneled abroad, a strategy that appears to have been by multiple fraudsters convicted in the case. 

“Farah further sent the taxpayer money he stole overseas, purchasing real estate in Kenya and a high-rise apartment building in Nairobi,” Justice Department officials said. “Farah laundered the fraud proceeds through China.  This overseas money is beyond the reach of American law enforcement—neither these funds nor Farah’s international real estate holdings have been, or can be, seized or forfeited.”

The federal judge overseeing the case described his fraud as “breathtakingly elaborate,” and said at the time of his conviction that he acted out of “pure unmitigated greed.”

Farah, she noted, had come to the U.S. as a refugee as a child and had received many opportunities from public agencies and nonprofits, including housing, a grant for full college tuition, and a former job in the public sector. “Given that background, it is ironic at best that, as the government aimed no child went hungry during the pandemic, you saw the opportunity to fraudulently make money,” she said after his conviction. 

Court documents, photos, and testimony provided at the trials have provided a window into the luxurious lifestyles many of the fraudsters had been leading as a result of the scheme.

Federal authorities seized $64,000 in cash, gold jewelry purchased in Dubai, and four vehicles — including a brand-new Tesla and a Porsche — from one defendant’s home. 

Five individuals were separately convicted last year of attempting to bribe a juror with $120,000 cash in exchange for returning a “not guilty” verdict for one of the defendants. 

PATEL TOUTS FBI’S DOZENS OF CONVICTIONS IN $250 MILLION MINNESOTA COVID SCAM

Others convicted are accused of having funneled money abroad into shell corporations, while at least some others appear to have spent the money to pay down their own credit card bills, or otherwise fund their “lavish lifestyles,” according to information provided by the Justice Department.

In the case of Abdimajid Mohamed Nur, a defendant who was ordered to pay $48 million in restitution for his crimes, many of the stolen funds were sent to a shell company.

Nur is believed to have spent the bulk of the $900,000 in fraud proceeds not sent to the shell company on himself, to fund the purchase of new vehicles, fund a honeymoon trip to the Maldives, and in purchasing jewelry.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in an interview on CBS News’s “Face the Nation” Sunday that “a lot of money has been transferred from the individuals who committed this fraud.”

Much of the fraudsters’ proceed have “gone overseas,” he told host Margaret Brennan, “and we are tracking that both to the Middle East and to Somalia to see what the uses of that have been” as part of the Trump administration’s broader investigation into the funding that was sent abroad.

But the efforts to trace, let alone recover, many of the stolen funds have proved to be a bit slow-going. 

To date, federal officials have recovered an estimated $60 million in funding that was stolen as part of the “Feeding Our Futures” scheme, according to estimates provided by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the state — less than half of the $250 million in stolen funds.

The slow recovery effort is not for lack of trying. Last month, a federal judge in the state ordered one defendant to pay $48 million in restitution funds, in addition to a 10-year prison sentence he received as part of his role in the sprawling fraud effort.

Other individuals convicted have also been ordered to refund the government millions of dollars to recoup the stolen taxpayer funds.

Still, the process can be complex and difficult. That’s because recovering the stolen funds often involves tracing them to how they were spent — including U.S. properties and vehicles, and then seizing those items for forfeiture — which can contribute to the delay.

In some cases, individuals who were convicted of the crimes actually have family members still living in the homes they are accused of purchasing with the stolen funds.

FBI Director Kash Patel described the scheme in July as “one of the worst” in Minnesota history. 

“These individuals misappropriated hundreds of millions in federal funds intended to nourish vulnerable children during a time of crisis, redirecting those resources into luxury homes, high-end vehicles and extravagant lifestyles while families faced hardship,” he said. 

TRUMP, STATES BACK IN COURT OVER SNAP AS BENEFITS REMAIN IN LEGAL LIMBO

Charging documents show that roughly 300 “food sites” in the state served little or no food, with the so-called food vendors and organizations fabricated to launder money intended to reimburse the cost of feeding children.

Senior FBI officials told Fox News that the investigation and resulting trials and indictments continue to impact the state and have already touched off legislative reform in Minnesota.

They added that the investigation into the fraud remains ongoing, and that additional charges were expected. 

“Stealing from the federal government equates to stealing from the American people — there is no simpler truth,” FBI’s special agent in charge, Alvin Winston, told Fox News Digital in a statement at the time.

Inglewood, Calif. — Despite all the errors and issues facing them this season, the Detroit Lions entered Sunday relying on one reassuring truth: They controlled their own destiny for a spot in the postseason.

Following a 41-34 loss to the Los Angeles Rams at SoFi Stadium, that is no longer the case.

The Lions will now not only have to win their remaining games in the regular season, but also get some help from other teams as they hope to jump the San Francisco 49ers (10-4), Chicago Bears (10-4) or Green Bay Packers (9-4-1) for one of the NFC’s top seven seeds.

Detroit’s best path to the playoffs remains finishing better than the Bears, who host the Lions in Week 18. The Lions, with a win in the finale, could secure a tiebreaker over Chicago. Put simply: If the Bears lose one of their next two contests (vs. the Packers and at the 49ers) and Detroit wins out, the Lions would bounce them from the playoffs.

“We’ve got to take it one week at time, that’s the biggest thing. … Don’t look too far ahead, don’t start counting games (or) looking at teams,” said receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown, who had 164 yards and two touchdowns against the Rams. “Just focus on the task at hand, the team we’ve got up. Put all your energy into that and take it one week at a time.”

Next up for the Lions is a home tilt with the Pittsburgh Steelers, who play the Miami Dolphins on Monday. Following that will be road tests at the Minnesota Vikings and Bears. The Lions were upset by Minnesota in Week 9 but smoked Chicago in Week 2, though the Bears have won all but two of their games since.

Sunday’s result in Los Angeles doesn’t change the already heightened level of urgency the team had heading into the game, linebacker Jack Campbell said: “Every game in the NFL, you’ve got to be urgent. You’ve got win every single game. That’s what it comes down to, and we haven’t been doing that. We put ourselves in this position. … I feel like every guy in this locker room’s been urgent since we showed up (for training camp).”

Dan Campbell’s Lions have been praised for their resolve over the last handful of years. They showed it last season, when they marched to 15 wins in spite of being the NFL’s most injured team. They’ll need that quality over the next three weeks — they haven’t won consecutive games since Week 5 — in addition to some luck.

“I believe in the guys on this team (and) the character of the players on this team, our captains, the core of it. … I know we can do it. These players know we can do it,” Campbell said. “You go back to work, man. I don’t believe for one second anybody’s lost confidence. … We’ve got three to go here. We don’t control our own destiny, but we need to win these three, and it starts with Pittsburgh at home.”

rsilva@detroitnews.com

@rich_silva18