Minneapolis woman pleads guilty to role in Feeding Our Future case

A Minneapolis woman pleaded guilty on Friday to wire fraud for her role in the Feeding Our Future scheme, and admitted to running a business that stole millions from the government by falsely inflating the number of meals it claimed to serve to children.

Khadra Abdi, 42, admitted in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis that she stole more than $3.4 million in fraud money from the federal government as part of the Feeding Our Future scheme between 2020 and 2022. As part of her plea agreement, Abdi's other charges related to wire fraud and money laundering will be dismissed at sentencing.

Abdi operated a Hopkins-based business called Shafi's Tutoring and Homework Help Center, which was created prior to the pandemic and the Feeding Our Future scheme. In April 2020 Abdi signed a contract with Aimee Bock, the executive director of Feeding Our Future, for Shafi's Tutoring to serve as a site to feed low-income children under the Federal Child Nutrition Program.

The tutoring business claimed to have served 1.1 million meals to children, federal charges say. Instead, only a "small fraction" of those reported meals were served, and the business falsely-inflated its meal number reports, prosecutors said.

Abdi gave some of the $3.4 million in fraud money to other members of the scheme, and used at least $202,000 to pay herself, charges say. Some of the funds allegedly went to personal spending for credit card and loan payments, cable TV, clothing and nail salon services.

Abdi admitted that she purchased two vehicles partially with fraud money. She agreed to forfeit properties and vehicles she bought with fraud money, and she is required to pay back the $3.4 million she received as restitution.

Asked by U.S. Assistant Attorney Matthew Ebert if her co-defendant Abdulkadir Awale operated as a fraudulent food vendor who did not provide food to Shafi's Tutoring as reported on invoices, Abdi initially pushed back.

The prosecution and defense agreed that Abdi could receive a prison sentence between 27 and 33 months. In the plea agreement, the defense reserved the right to argue for a lower punishment of around two years of prison time at the sentencing.

Abdi was the 21st defendant in the Feeding Our Future case to plead guilty, and the third person this week to change their plea to guilty. None of the 21 who pleaded guilty have been sentenced yet, but possible sentences range from about two years to nearly five years in prison. Another five defendants were convicted by a jury earlier this year.