CBS News obtained court files and photos showing how defendants in one of Minnesota’s largest COVID-era fraud schemes diverted hundreds of millions in taxpayer money intended to feed children, and spent it on luxury goods and international transfers. Exhibits include a confirmation email for an overwater villa with a private pool at Radisson Blu Resort Maldives; receipts for lakefront property in Minnesota; wire-transfer records to banks in China and East Africa; first-class flight receipts to Istanbul and Amsterdam; a 2021 Porsche Macan; and photos of stacks of cash.
Videos and messages in the files show defendants — many of Somali descent — celebrating at upscale resorts, flying first class, buying cars and property, and wiring millions overseas. One court exhibit contains a text that boasts, “You are gonna be the richest 25 year old InshaAllah.” Another exchange shows a box packed with cash and the note “$270,000 dollars.”
At sentencing, 24-year-old Abdimajid Mohamed Nur was sharply criticized by U.S. District Judge Nancy E. Brasel, who told him, “Where others saw a crisis and rushed to help, you saw money and rushed to steal.” Nur received a 10-year prison term and was ordered to pay nearly $48 million in restitution for his role in the scheme.
Prosecutors say dozens of people siphoned off hundreds of millions in relief funds. The Treasury Department said it would investigate whether any funds reached al Shabaab, and House Republicans have probed Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz’s handling of the cases. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told “Face the Nation” that much of the money “has gone overseas, and we are tracking that both to the Middle East and to Somalia to see what the uses of that have been.” Multiple federal investigators told CBS News there is no evidence taxpayer dollars were funneled to al Shabaab, and prosecutors have not presented evidence linking the fraudsters to terrorism.
Former U.S. Attorney Andy Luger, who led prosecutions in the case, said, “The vast majority of the money that these folks made went to spending on luxury items for themselves,” adding there was never evidence the proceeds funded terrorism nor that that was the intent of the roughly 70 people indicted.
Court records detail specific transfers and spending. The files show defendants wired millions to banks and businesses in China and moved nearly $3 million to accounts in Kenya. Abdiaziz Shafii Farah, 36, who was recently sentenced to 28 years, made six wire transfers totaling more than $1 million to Chinese banks between February and July 2021, according to records reviewed by CBS News. In one text, Farah asked someone to “please send $1000 to Mogadishu bakara,” an apparent reference to a neighborhood in Somalia.
Farah ran Empire Cuisine and Market, a vendor that contracted with the nonprofit Feeding Our Future to provide meals to children. Prosecutors say Farah and co-defendants billed the state for $47 million, claiming 18 million meals at more than 30 locations — but did not distribute a single meal. Exhibits document his spending on luxury cars, investment properties at home and abroad, first-class travel and Maldives resort trips, including a video of him popping champagne at a private-pool villa in July 2021. A judge described Farah’s crimes as motivated by “pure, unmitigated greed.” Farah’s attorneys did not respond to requests for comment, including whether any proceeds were diverted to al Shabaab.
Rep. Ilhan Omar told “Face the Nation” that any suggestion linking fraud within the Somali community to terrorism would be “a failure of the FBI.” So far, federal prosecutors have convicted 61 people in the widening Minnesota fraud scandal, and investigations remain ongoing. Pat Milton contributed to this report.