Feeding Our Future was a Minnesota-based food distribution nonprofit that partnered with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to distribute food to low-income children and senior citizens. The group operated primarily between 2018 and 2021, but as of 2024 the group was shut down due to allegations of attempting to defraud the USDA. ¹

History

Feeding Our Future was founded by Aimee Bock in 2016. It started approving federal food distributions sites in 2018. From 2018 to 2021, Feeding Our Future received $244 million from federal nutrition programs, including the Child and Adult Care Food Program and the Summer Food Service Program. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) later alleged that tens of millions in grants were fraudulently used by Feeding Our Future and its subcontractors, with prosecutors arguing the money was spent on personal items. Federal prosecutors would charge several defendants associated with Feeding Our Future with fraud and as of 2024, Feeding Our Future is defunct. ^{2 3 4}

Fraud Case

Complaints

Feeding Our Future was first formed in 2016, where it began receiving federal grants by 2018. By the end of 2019, the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) had received 10 complaints about Feeding Our Future’s use of federal funds. Through 2021, there were more than 30 complaints about the group, with several coming from Partners in Quality Care. ⁵

Trial

Feeding Our Future and its subcontractors were brought to court by the US government for allegedly fraudulently using nearly $250 million of federal money meant for needy children during the COVID-19 pandemic. There were over 70 defendants in at least six separate cases who were charged for crimes such as wire fraud, federal bribery, and money laundering. As of March 2025, 37 defendants had pleaded guilty. ⁶ There were seven defendants from Feeding Our Future’s first trial, after which five were found guilty while two were acquitted. Prosecutors filed additional charges against five defendants, three of whom had been defendants in the Feeding Our Future trial, for involvement in an attempted bribe of one of the jurors. ^{4 7 3}

It was found that Salim Said, the co-owner of Safari Restaurant in Minneapolis had instructed multiple restaurant owners on how to conduct fraud and money laundering. Sharmake Jama, who testified against Said in the trial alleged that Said instructed him on how to obtain federal funding by serving children free meals during the COVID-19 pandemic. Jama, as per Said’s instructions, submitted fake meal counts so as to increase the amount of federal funds he obtained, and laundered the money through shell companies that his family members opened. It was found that all 299 of the restaurant locations that Feeding Our Future sponsored mimicked Said’s fraudulent tactics. ^{8 6}

In April 2025, Abdulkarim Farah pled guilty to attempting a bribe of a Minneapolis juror during a previous Feeding Our Future fraud trial back in 2024. Farah was one of five individuals accused of the attempted bribery, which included his brothers Said Farah and Abdiaziz Farah as well as Abimajid Nur and Ladan Ali. Abdulkarim Farah was accused of conducting surveillance on the juror’s home, removing a license plate off a rental car, and dropping off Ali who delivered the money to the juror and allegedly claimed “there would be more coming if the juror voted to acquit.” According to court documents, the juror refused the bribe and immediately contacted authorities, whereas the case’s jury was sequestered and the juror dismissed. Nur and Ali had previously pled guilty to the bribery charges in 2024. ⁹

Aftermath

According to the Washington Free Beacon and a report by the Center of the American Experiment (CAE), in December 2021 Minnesota attorney general Keith Ellison allegedly met with several individuals affiliated with Feeding Our Future regarding its 2020 lawsuit against the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) over claims MDE was taking too long to approve the group’s application for federal food funds (a judge had previously ruled in June 2021 that MDE must process the approval more quickly). According to the story and CAE’s report, Ellison allegedly accepted four campaign contributions, totaling roughly $10,000, from several of the Feeding Our Futures-affiliated individuals roughly nine days following the meeting.

In April 2025, Ellison spokesperson Brian Evans released a statement claiming Ellison had “acted entirely appropriately” during the meeting, that he met “…with a friend that day, Imam Mohamed Omar,” and further alleged Ellison was “surprised to find others present but agreed to meet with them.” ¹⁰ Evans also claimed that “[n]othing happened as a result of the meeting.” ¹⁰

In May of 2025, Hibo Daar was arrested by FBI and IRS agents at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport following her attempt to board a flight to Dubai. Daar was being accused of wire fraud, and is allegedly connected to Hadith Ahmed, a Feeding Our Future employee who previously pleaded guilty and admitted to collecting kickbacks. Ahmed reportedly received $72,000 from Daar’s operation. As of June 2025, Daar was the 71st person charged in the Feeding Our Future scandal. Daar allegedly operated a fake meal site, Northside Wellness Center, which claimed to serve 40,000 meals a week and received nearly $1.8 million in federal funds. Of that, she allegedly personally took $110,000, while the organization spent under $2,000 on actual food. ¹¹

In early December 2025, the Feeding Our Future network was cited in a City Journal investigation as part of a broader set of Minnesota social-service programs allegedly exploited to divert large sums of public money, some of which federal officials believe ultimately reached the terrorist group al-Shabab. According to researchers, the scheme involved shell companies, inflated service claims, and misuse of vulnerable beneficiaries, contributing to what prosecutors describe as one of the largest public-funds fraud cases in Minnesota history. Federal authorities have brought dozens of criminal cases related to these activities, and state officials have shut down programs associated with the alleged fraud while broader federal investigations continue. ¹²

In December 2025, the New York Post released a report alleging that Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn) had previously held events in the Safari Restaurant where the welfare scam was centered in, while other reporting from 2022 alleged that her campaign had received roughly $7,400 from three of the defendants in the case, including 2 affiliated with the Safari restaurant. Following news of the scandal and the FBI investigation in early 2022, the campaign reportedly donated the amount to local food charities in February that year, with campaign manager Jeremy Slevin commenting that Rep. Omar had requested for “all other elected officials who have received donations from these named individuals to donate their contributions to local food assistance charities.” ^{13 14}

1. Ansari, Hibah, Andrew Hazzard, and Becky Z. Dernbach. “Feds Investigate Nonprofit Incorporated by Minneapolis City Council Member Jamal Osman in Alleged Feeding Our Future Food Fraud.” Sahan Journal, January 24, 2022. https://sahanjournal.com/business-work/feeding-our-future-stigma-free-international-jamal-osman/.
2. Peters, Joey. “Feeding Our Future Director Blames Minnesota Department of Education for Food Aid Probe.” Sahan Journal, February 1, 2022. https://sahanjournal.com/news/feeding-our-future-aimee-bock-interview/.
3. “Feeding Our Future Trial: Latest Updates.” Sahan Journal. Accessed September 16, 2024. https://sahanjournal.com/feeding-our-future-trial/.
4. “U.S. Attorney Announces Federal Charges Against 47 Defendants in $250 Million Feeding Our Future Fraud Scheme.” Justice.gov, September 20, 2022. https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/us-attorney-announces-federal-charges-against-47-defendants-250-million-feeding-our-future.
5. Hazzard, Andrew. “Five Takeaways from A Report on the State’s Oversight of Feeding Our Future.” Sahan Journal, June 13, 2024. https://sahanjournal.com/policing-justice/takeaways-report-feeding-our-future-fraud/.
6. Johnson, Scott. “Feeding Our Future Case Goes to the Jury.” Alpha News, March 19, 2025. https://alphanews.org/feeding-our-future-case-goes-to-the-jury/.
7. Pross, Katrina, and Joey Peters. “Feeding Our Future Juror Bribed With $120K, Defendants Arrested.” Sahan Journal, June 3, 2024. https://sahanjournal.com/policing-justice/feeding-our-future-trial-jury-tampering/.
8. Peters, Joey. “Safari Restaurant Played Key Role in Feeding Our Future Fraud, Witness Says.” Sahan Journal, February 20, 2025. https://sahanjournal.com/public-safety/feeding-our-future-trial-fraud-safari-restaurant/.
9. Fitzgerald, Kilat. “Feeding Our Future: Juror bribe attempt leads to third guilty plea.” Fox 9 KMSP, April 2, 2025. https://www.fox9.com/news/feeding-our-future-juror-bribe-third-guilty-plea
10. Anderson, Colin. “Keith Ellison Held Chummy Meeting With Feeding Our Future Fraudsters Weeks Before FBI Raid, Audio Shows, Contradicting Minnesota AG’s Public Statements.” Washington Free Beacon, April 11, 2025. https://freebeacon.com/democrats/keith-ellison-held-chummy-meeting-with-feeding-our-future-fraudsters-weeks-before-fbi-raid-audio-shows-contradicting-minnesota-ags-public-statements/
11. MN, Crime Watch. “Feeding Our Future Suspect Hibo Daar Apprehended While Trying to Leave the US Alphanews.Org.” Alpha News MN, May 29, 2025. https://alphanews.org/feeding-our-future-suspect-hibo-daar-apprehended-while-trying-to-leave-the-us/.
12. Whisnant, Gabe. “Trump Admin Probes Allegations Minnesota Fraud Funded ‘Terrorist’ Group.” Newsweek, December 1, 2025. https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-tim-walz-somali-fraud-minnesota-11138379.
13. Raguse, Lou. ” Which politicians received donations from Feeding our Future defendants?” Kare 11, September 30, 2022. https://www.kare11.com/article/news/politics/who-received-donations-from-feeding-our-future-defendants/89-37c984f1-fd55-43c9-8366-f84c55797a73
14. Moore, Chadwick. “What did Ilhan Omar know about the $1B welfare fraud case in her Minnesota district?” New York Post, December 4, 2025. https://nypost.com/2025/12/04/us-news/what-did-ilhan-omar-know-about-the-1b-welfare-fraud-case-in-her-minnesota-district/