A Minneapolis man is accused of participating in a fraud scheme that stole more than $1 million in state, federal and local grants.

Tony Robinson, 41, is charged with five counts of wire fraud and conspiracy offenses, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Minnesota.

The attorney’s office said from December 2021 to October 2022, Robinson facilitated the submission of false grant progress reports for an organization called Encouraging Leaders.

“Robinson’s reports claimed Encouraging Leaders used grant funds to organize events and activities that never occurred, and overstated Encouraging Leaders’ involvement in events that had occurred,” the attorney’s office said. “Robinson’s reports also falsely claimed that Encouraging Leaders had assisted various students, when in fact it had not.”

Robinson is accused of defrauding the U.S. Department of Justice, Hennepin County, the city of Minneapolis, the Minnesota departments of education and human services, the Minnesota State Arts Board and other agencies.

Tezzaree El-Amin Champion, who founded Encouraging Leaders, pleaded guilty to wire fraud, money laundering and illegally possessing a firearm as a felon in February. He was sentenced last month to seven years in prison and five years of supervised release. He also must pay nearly $3.5 million in restitution.

Encouraging Leaders received more than $2.7 million in grants, much of which Champion took for himself, according to court records. During Robinson’s alleged involvement in the scheme, more than $1 million was fraudulently taken.

Champion also engaged in fraud using a marketing company he owned called Futuristic Management, court records show. That group stole more than $2.1 million. His co-defendant in that case, Marcus Hamilton, also pleaded guilty.

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) – A two-time convicted sex offender on probation kidnapped and raped a woman at a hotel in Bloomington in September, according to court documents.

Convicted sex offender kidnapped, raped woman he met on Snapchat: charges

The allegations:

According to court records, Abdimahat Bille Mohamed, 28, of Minneapolis, kidnapped and raped a woman he met on Snapchat.

Mohamed picked up the woman at her home in Mankato in September, then drove her to a hotel in Bloomington, where he held her against her will for several days and sexually assaulted her, prosecutors said.

The victim told investigators that Mohamed told her, “You’re not going home,” after she got into his car, according to court documents.

She also told investigators that Mohamed took her phone and told her, “You’re not leaving,” when she tried to escape.

On Sept. 21, nearly a week after her kidnapping, the “very distraught and shaken up” victim jumped out of Mohamed’s car on Aldrich Avenue South in Minneapolis, where a resident called police.

Suspect convicted of two previous sexual assaults in Minneapolis

The previous cases:

The September incident happened less than four months after he was sentenced in two unrelated sexual assault cases, including one that involved a 15-year-old girl.

In May 2024, Mohamed was arrested and charged after prosecutors said he raped a woman he met on Snapchat at his apartment in Minneapolis.

In that case, the victim told a paramedic that she had been strangled and raped.

Mohamed threatened to shoot the victim unless she had sex with him, prosecutors said.

According to court records, a witness heard arguing and walked into a bedroom to find Mohamed on top of the victim. He threatened to kill the witness, prosecutors said.

In October 2024, he was charged in another rape that prosecutors said happened in December 2017.

DNA collected after his arrest in 2024 linked him to the 2017 case that involved a 15-year-old girl.

According to court records, Mohamed met the girl on Snapchat and picked her up in St. Paul. He drove her to Minneapolis, where two men got into the car, prosecutors said. One of the men pointed a handgun at the victim and forced her to perform oral sex on another man in the car before Mohamed got in the backseat and raped her, documents said.

Suspect struck plea deals, avoided prison time

The sentences:

In May, a Hennepin County judge sentenced Mohamed in the two rape cases. But under the terms of a plea agreement, he served no prison time.

For the 2017 sexual assault that involved a minor, he was sentenced to three years in prison, but the sentence was stayed for five years, meaning he did not serve prison time. He was sentenced to 364 days in the Hennepin County workhouse but received credit for time served. In addition, he was sentenced to five years of probation.

For the 2024 sexual assault, he was sentenced to 14 months in prison, but that sentence was also stayed, meaning he never went to prison.  He was also sentenced – and received credit for time served – to 364 days in the Hennepin County workhouse. In addition, he was sentenced to a day of probation.

The response:

When reached via email on Monday for comment, a spokesman for the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office, which prosecuted the cases, said he was “checking in with staff.”