Feeding our Future: More than $50 million recovered in government restitution
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - Government restitution efforts have reportedly recovered more than $50 million from the Feeding Our Future scandal, according to an official from the United States Department of Justice.
What we know
More than $50 million has been recovered from the Feeding Our Future scandal as government restitution efforts work to mitigate the damage from the $250 million scheme.
READ MORE: Feeding our Future: Juror bribery attempt leads to guilty plea
Recent guilty pleas
Department of Justice officials announced on Sept. 20 that three more people pleaded guilty to wire fraud for their role in the Feeding out Future scheme.
They are Haji Osman Salad, 34, who owned and operated Haji's Kitchen LLC and enrolled in the nutrition program with the sponsorship of Feeding Our Future. He received a total of $11,483,827 in federal funds.
Sharmarke Issa, 42, acted as the principal owner of Minnesota's Somali Community and Wacan Restaurant LLC and fraudulently received federal funds from the child nutrition program while under the Feeding Our Future sponsorship. Issa got a total of $3,586,231 in federal funds.
Khadra Abdi, 42, was the principal owner of Shafi'i Tutoring & Homework Help Center, which also fraudulently registered as a meal site under the sponsorship of Feeding Our Future. Abdi fraudulently claimed $3,479,191.92 in federal funding.
The scandal had a huge political impact on Minnesota leadership, with some blaming the state's Department of Education and Gov. Tim Walz for not catching the fraud sooner.
READ MORE: Political fallout from failed oversight of Feeding Our Future
What comes next
There are a total of 70 defendants accused of being involved in the scheme, and the trial is set to continue into 2025.