Midwest
MN fraudsters blew taxpayer cash on luxuries out of reach for most Americans, feds say
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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
FBI Director Kash Patel described the scheme in July as “one of the worst” in Minnesota history. (Getty Images)
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
Kash Patel appears before the Senate Judiciary Committee for his confirmation hearing as FBI director. (Ben Curtis/AP)
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
Republican Speaker of the House Lisa Demuth speaks during a press conference in the governor’s reception room at the Minnesota Capitol in St. Paul, Minn., May 15, 2025. (Jerry Holt/The Minnesota Star Tribune via Getty Images)
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.
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Scott Harris introduces Framber Valdez to Detroit Tigers after signing
President of baseball operations Scott Harris introduced left-hander Framber Valdez to the Detroit Tigers on Feb. 11, 2026, in Lakeland, Florida.
Detroit Tigers left-hander Framber Valdez was ejected from his start Tuesday, May 5, against the Boston Red Sox before recording an out in the fourth inning.
The 32-year-old was ejected by third-base umpire and crew chief Dan Iassogna for hitting Red Sox shortstop Trevor Story with a first-pitch 94.4 mph four-seam fastball – immediately after giving up back-to-back home runs.
The hit-by-pitch appeared to be intentional, especially because the pitch registered as the only four-seam fastball that Valdez has thrown in the 2026 season.
The Red Sox scored 10 runs off Valdez, including two in the fourth inning on home runs from Willson Contreras and Wilyer Abreu, both with bat flips. That’s when Valdez hit Story, who absorbed the pitch with his back.
Players and coaches from both teams’ benches and bullpens poured onto the field at Comerica Park.
Valdez stood near the mound during the skirmish, all while his teammates and coaches exchanged words with players and coaches from the Red Sox.
There was no brawl.
Before benches and bullpens cleared, Story stared down Valdez from near home plate, and Valdez took several steps in front of the pitching mound.
The two never came close to a fight.
Afterward, the umpires gathered, discussed what had happened and ejected Valdez. He didn’t protest the ejection, simply walking off the mound and into the clubhouse.
Both teams were warned not to retaliate.
Valdez – a two-time All-Star in his nine-year MLB career – allowed 10 runs (seven earned runs) on nine hits and one walk with three strikeouts across three-plus innings, throwing 45 of 60 pitches for strikes.
He generated six misses on 34 swings for a below-average 17.6% whiff rate, while the Red Sox averaged an above-average 93.3 mph exit velocity on 16 balls in play.
Valdez has a 4.57 ERA in eight starts.
The Tigers – led by president of baseball operations Scott Harris – signed Valdez in early February to a lucrative contract that will be worth three years, $115 million if he exercises his player option for the third season.
The deal set the MLB record for the highest average annual value guaranteed to a left-handed pitcher, at $38.3 million.
So far, the results have been disappointing.
The hit-by-pitch in Tuesday’s meltdown didn’t help.
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.
MINNEAPOLIS — On February 12, Trump-appointed “border czar” Tom Homan announced the “end” of Operation Metro Surge, during which more than 4,000 federal agents aggressively targeted immigrant communities in the Twin Cities, causing massive chaos throughout the area and killing Renee Good and Alex Pretti. It seemed meaningful that the same day as Homan’s announcement, Minnesota-based interdisciplinary artist Rosy Simas opened A:gajë:gwah dësa’nigöëwë:nye:’ (i hope it will stir your mind) at the Walker Art Center. The contemplative installation slows the viewer down, inviting a soft sense of communion with objects such as salt bottles made from woven corn husks, each hung from a grid on the ceiling in honor of one of Simas’s relatives, and offering a site of peace amid fear and confusion.
The exhibition is inspired by her fifth great-grandfather’s half-brother Handsome Lake (Ganyodaiyo’), who experienced a vision after years of war and began teaching his people about working from the Seneca notion of a “good mind” in the early 1800s. The aforementioned sensory work, on view through July 5, is part of a two-part project, which also includes performances on May 13–16. Simas is most known for her choreography, but she has long explored visual art in tandem with dance, at times mounting installation exhibitions and performances concurrently, as she does with this project. She’s also been gaining national recognition as a visual artist, recently earning a Creative Capital Award for that side of her practice. Here, she discusses her latest endeavor.
Hyperallergic: How has the work changed since January?
Rosy Simas: The installation became more subtle. It was always intended to be a space that didn’t provoke, but maybe evoked. It is a space for people to rest their nervous systems, but also to inhabit a space made by a Haudenosaunee artist reflecting on what it means to try to create from a place of generating peace. I am interested in response, as opposed to reaction.
H: What is your experience of opening an exhibition in the midst of a federal occupation?
RS: When we knew that it was becoming more difficult for people to just exist around here, asking people to gather, that was sort of a no-brainer — that is not something that we can do. This isn’t a “just push through” moment. At the same time, I think having these kinds of spaces is really important during what feels like an oppressive occupation. It’s not even about a safe space. It’s a space where people can be with themselves.
Making work for a museum gallery is really difficult for me, because I like to think of the work as iterative, even within the time that it’s being shared. So for me, it’s difficult to put something up and let it be there until July, because things change.
H: You tend to want to go in there and shift things around?
RS: Yeah, the static nature of exhibitions is really challenging for me. That is part of why we’re doing so many community engagement activities around it, and also why there are two shows. The performance has more of a presentational aspect to it, where there is something being shared that has more dynamic ebb and flow, and it is also intended to draw an audience’s focus into what’s happening with the performers themselves — what they are expressing and what they are sharing.
That’s different from creating an environment for people to be inside of, where they can be with their own individual experience. There’s still something relational being asked of the people who go into the gallery. They’re asked to contemplate what I’ve put forward in terms of materials and what those materials mean. But it’s a little different than performance, where they’re being asked to exist in relationship to the performers.
H: One of the things that I experienced with the exhibition was the different spaces that you move through. You’re being invited to sit or to visit each station in an active way. It seemed almost like it’s choreography for the participant who’s viewing the work.
RS: In Haudenosaunee world, we do everything counterclockwise. There is an invitation to come in, turn to your right, and see the embroidery and the first set of treaty cloth panels. And then to see the salt bottles, the deerskin lace, the treaty panels with the corn husk, and end up back where the language pillar is, where you can feel the vibration of the language — how it feels through a sense of touch, and not just a sense of hearing. Nobody’s telling people to come in and move counterclockwise, but people are invited in that way.
My work as a body-based moving artist here is an important reference. The corn husk panels are hanging from a grid, and that’s intentional. The grid is made to reflect the way that I think as someone who primarily makes work in a theater setting: The way that the panels hang references how I think about stage design and how we experience performance in space.
H: On social media, you commented about the need for visibility for Native, BIPOC, and queer voices. Why is creating a space for that presence so important right now?
RS: Those voices are the ones that are being suppressed in all of this. We have to keep making work. There are people who haven’t been leaving their houses. There were people who became paralyzed and were unable to do their work. I have had serious moments of paralysis, for six to eight hours at a time, and that has been going on since January. And it’s not just because of this recent occupation, but it’s cumulative in many ways.
H: The space feels sacred. Was that something that you were going for?
RS: I don’t know that I would use that term, but what your experience of the space and how it feels to you is probably the most important thing to me.
It’s the same as making the dance work. From the first residency until now, the ideas around the dance work — not the meaning behind it, but the way that it’s presented and the space around it — shift depending on what environment we’re currently living in. And in Minneapolis since January, we’ve been experiencing a very particular environment, and my work happened to be made in that timeframe. I’ve put a lot of thought into creating a space that I think people need right now, in this very time.
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