A Minnesota jury has convicted four men and one woman for their participation in a sprawling scheme to steal more than $40 million in funds earmarked for hungry children during the pandemic.
The case garnered national attention after a brazen bribe attempt in which a Hallmark gift bag stuffed with $120,000 cash was delivered to a juror’s home the night before the jury was scheduled to be in court to hear closing arguments.
The juror was dismissed before deliberations, along with a second juror who had learned about the attempted bribe.
A jury convicted five Minnesota residents but acquitted two others for their roles in a scheme to steal more than $40 million that was supposed to feed children during the coronavirus pandemic. AP
The case received widespread attention after someone tried to bribe a juror with a bag of $120,000 in cash. APThe FBI is still investigating the bribe attempt, with no arrests made as of Friday evening.
The seven defendants — all of whom are of East African descent — are the first group of 70 people in line to stand trial for what federal prosecutors are calling one of the biggest fraud cases to exploit the COVID-19 crisis.
In all, more than $250 million in federal funds were pilfered in the scheme, with just $50 million recovered so far, according to authorities.
The defendants were facing a laundry list of charges, including wire fraud, conspiracy, money laundering and federal programs bribery.
The seven defendants are the first of 70 to stand trial in what federal prosecutors have called one of the nation’s largest COVID-19-related frauds, exploiting rules that were kept lax so that the economy wouldn’t crash during the pandemic. APAbdiaziz Shafii Farah, Mohamed Jama Ismail, Abdimajid Mohamed Nur, Mukhtar Mohamed Shariff and Hayat Mohamed Nur were convicted on most of the counts.
Two other defendants were acquitted, Abdiwahab Maalim Aftin and Said Shafii Farah.
Attorneys for the accused claimed they were operating a legitimate charity that provided real meals to real people.
US Attorney Joseph Thompson ripped the bribe attempt in court earlier in the week, saying it was “completely beyond the pale,” likening it to “the stuff that happens in mob movies.”
A woman dropped the would-be bribe off at Juror 52’s suburban Minneapolis home Sunday evening in a gift bag adorned with curly ribbons and pictures of flowers and butterflies.
She rang the doorbell and passed the gift bag loaded with $20, $50 and $100 bills to a relative who answered the door, calling it a “present” for the juror.
More than $250 million in federal funds was taken in the Minnesota scheme overall, with only about $50 million of it recovered, authorities said. APAccording to an FBI affidavit, the woman knew the juror’s first name, despite none of the jurors’ identities being made public.
The woman told the family member to tell the juror there’d be more money coming if she voted to acquit in court the next day.
Juror 52 was not home at the time, but immediately reported the sketchy delivery to police.
After the bribe attempt came to light, the judge ordered the seven defendants to hand over their phones so investigators could analyze them for evidence.
All seven were handcuffed and led from the courtroom.
Bribing a juror is a felony punishable by a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison.
The defendants’ fraud scheme was perpetrated under the guise of Minneapolis nonprofit Feeding Our Future, which received millions in food aid from the US Department of Agriculture under relaxed pandemic-era rules to help quickly shuttle food to the needy.
But prosecutors said only a small amount of the proceeds went towards helping feed poor children as intended. The rest, they said, was blown on pricey sports cars, jewelry, property and travel.
