75th Suspect Charged in Major Pandemic Fraud Scheme
More charges in the $300 million Feeding Our Future fraud scheme, which prosecutors say is the largest COVID-19 fraud in the country.
A 75th defendant, Muna Wais Fidhin, was charged for her involvement with Feeding Our Future, a Minnesota non-profit that orchestrated the fraud against the Federal Child Nutrition Program under the guise of delivering meals to needy children.
“With the 75th defendant charged in the Feeding Our Future scandal, the message could not be clearer,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Joseph H. Thompson for the District of Minnesota. “Feeding Our Future is only one of the many frauds against the state we are pursuing. If you touched these frauds in any way, pick up the phone and call the FBI today.”
Money Used for Mortgage, Car
According to prosecutors, Fidhin enrolled her company, M5 Café, with sponsorship from Feeding Our Future, in the Federal Child Nutrition Program. Fidhin also created a separate nonprofit that she also enrolled in the program.
Court documents say Fidhin fraudulently claimed to be serving meals to 500 children a day, but in reality she served “few, if any, children at her sites,” while submitting fake invoices. Fidhin claimed she was owed $1 million for the meals, and allegedly used the money to pay off her mortgage, buy a car, and wire tens of thousands out of the U.S. She also paid about $27,000 in kickbacks to a Feeding Our Future employee in exchange for sponsorship and the submission of fraudulent claims.
Fidhin is facing three counts of wire fraud, three counts of money laundering, and four counts of federal programs bribery.
The case was investigated by the FBI, IRS- Criminal Investigations, and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.
“While we take a moment to reflect on the great investigative work performed by talented and devoted investigators and attorneys resulting in charges filed against seventy-five individuals, there is still more work to be done on this and other fraud schemes targeting government funded programs,” said Adam Jobes, Special Agent in Charge, IRS Criminal Investigation, Chicago Field Office.
Fraud Leaders Convicted
The masterminds of the Feeding Our Future scheme, Aimee Bock and Salim Said, were convicted by a federal jury in March for orchestrating the fraud. Feeding Our Future recruited restaurants and other sites across Minnesota to fraudulently claim they were serving meals to children during the pandemic, pocketing the payments from the Federal Nutrition Program.