Rochester, MN (KROC-AM News) – There has been another guilty plea in Minnesota’s Feeding Our Future fraud scandal.
The Office of the U.S. Attorney for Minnesota says the latest defendant to admit to participating in the $300 million fraud scheme is 49-year-old Guhaad Hashi Said of Minneapolis. He is the 52nd person convicted of federal charges in the case.
A news release says Said and co-conspirators operated a bogus Federal Child Nutrition Program feeding site under the name Advance Youth Athletic Development from December 2020 through January 2022. Federal prosecutors say Said submitted reimbursement claims for serving 5,000 meals per day, seven days a week, from a residential apartment building in northeast Minneapolis.
He was also accused of participating in the creation of nonprofit entities and LLCs to hide the source and ownership of the fraudulently obtained proceeds, and of using taxpayer funds to purchase real estate, cars, and other personal items. Federal prosecutors say Said and his co-conspirators collected more than $2.9 million from the federal program during the COVID-19 pandemic…