Defense attorneys in first Feeding Our Future trial say defendants served ‘real food,’ deny fraud scheme

Attorneys for defendants in the first Feeding Our Future trial argued Monday that they served "real food" to children in need across Minnesota, refuting prosecutors' claims of a widespread fraud scheme.

Instead, defense attorneys who made their first opening statements Monday argued that defendants navigated a complex federal meal program that was upended in the COVID-19 pandemic. The government approved thousands of waivers loosening rules and oversight to quickly distribute food to kids in need when schools shuttered, including allowing for-profit restaurants to make money on the programs.

"It's called profit. That's how we do things in America," said Andy Birrell, the attorney representing Abdiaziz Shafii Farah, who started the Shakopee restaurant at the center of the trial, Empire Cuisine & Market. "He made a fair profit margin. He provided a lot of meals."

The high-profile trial is the first one to take place since the FBI's massive fraud allegations were revealed more than two years ago, alleging that a tangled web of restaurants, vendors and nonprofits stole millions of federal dollars meant to reimburse schools, daycares and nonprofits that feed low-income children after school and during the summer.

Prosecutors have said the group is part of a more than $250 million fraud scheme — one of the biggest fraud cases in Minnesota history and one of the largest pandemic-related fraud cases in the country.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Ebert countered in a 70-minute opening statement Monday, arguing that the seven defendants on trial collectively pocketed more than $40 million in reimbursements for claiming to serve more than 18 million meals to children across Minnesota — from Owatonna to Savage. He said the "brazen fraud" scheme exploited the loosened rules and oversight during the pandemic, with defendants submitting phony invoices and rosters of made-up names of kids.

"Their scheme was fueled by deception and corruption," Ebert said. "The defendants simply pocketed the children's lunch money."

Since the first charges were filed in September 2022, 70 people have been charged or indicted in the Feeding Our Future case and, of those, 18 have pleaded guilty. The trial, which could last six weeks, could foreshadow or affect the other trials to come in the case, legal experts say, including for Feeding Our Future executive director Aimee Bock, whose organization sponsored or oversaw hundreds of meal sites. Bock, whose trial date hasn't yet been set, has denied any wrongdoing and pleaded not guilty.

Ebert showed the jury on Monday a sample of some of the evidence that prosecutors will present, including text messages between defendants boasting about becoming millionaires and photos of piles of cash. "Their fraud went viral," he told jurors, adding that defendants lined their pockets in a "monumental crime of opportunity."

Ebert showed some of the invoices defendants submitted, showing "absurd amounts" of millions of dollars in meal reimbursements that were "impossibly round numbers," and rosters with fake names including "John Doe." For instance, in Faribault, the defendants claimed to serve 7,000 daily servings of food to kids in a small city with only 4,000 kids in a school district.

The programs weren't meant to make money off of, Ebert said, adding that participants in the programs don't get rich, "they get reimbursed," making meals, "not millionaires."

He said defendants distributed some food such as a pallet of rice or gallons of milk to create a "smokescreen" of legitimacy, but he said only about 10% of the food, "a meager portion," was served.

Ebert said that the meal program became "their own endless ATM," showing photos of the 8,000-square-foot lakeside custom home that Farah wrote a $1 million check out for in Prior Lake. Other defendants bought an $80,000 Porsche or took a luxury vacation to the Maldives with the money they made, Ebert said.

He said prosecutors will call witnesses to testify that they didn't hear of Farah's Shakopee restaurant Empire Cuisine & Market nor did they see thousands of meals distributed.

Birrell said prosecutors took information out of context and the waivers approved by the government allowed for-profit restaurants to make money on the programs. No identification from children was required to pick up the food so anyone could receive the meals from anywhere, he added.

Sponsoring organizations, including Feeding Our Future, the St. Anthony nonprofit at the center of the investigation, and St. Paul nonprofit Partners in Nutrition, also called Partners in Quality Care, were in charge of overseeing the programs and distributing reimbursements after food was delivered, Birrell said.

"She received every single thing Abdi submitted," Birrell said of Kara Lomen, the former executive director of Partners in Nutrition, who hasn't been charged. "He worked very hard to follow the contracts and he took enormous financial risks to be part of the food program."

Patrick Cotter, who represents Mohamed Jama Ismail, who also operated Empire Cuisine, said he didn't intentionally defraud anyone and acted in good faith in what the programs allowed. The rules were complex and ever-changing, including allowing meal programs to distribute bulk goods, increasing the amount of food delivered.

"He was running a business feeding people in the community and yes, making a profit," Cotter said, adding that prosecutors are waving a "huge broad brush" in their allegations against defendants.

Edward Sapone added that his client, Abdimajid Mohamed Nur, was just a 20-year-old track star who worked as a site supervisor, working 14-hour days to deliver food. "He may have been over his head," Sapone said, but "he didn't make the rules, he just played by them."

"The food was real and it really was delivered," Sapone added.

Four other defense attorneys are giving opening statements Monday afternoon.

The other defendants in the trial are Said Shafii Farah, Abdiwahab Maalim Aftin, Mukhtar Mohamed Shariff and Hayat Mohamed Nur. They've been charged with wire fraud and money laundering, among other charges.