Two Columbus-area men are among 47 defendants charged in Minnesota in what federal prosecutors say was a"brazen scheme" to steal $250 million in federal COVID relief funds by billing the federal government for fake free meals for needy children who didn’t exist.
Abdirahman “Abcos” Ahmed, 54, who owns a home in Orange Township, Delaware County, is charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering and money laundering. The restaurateur owned the now-closed Safari Restaurant & Banquet Center in Minneapolis, a contemporary Somali and African cuisine restaurant alleged in court documents to have been paid more than $16 million in federal funds after reporting it served several thousands pandemic meals to children each day.
Mind Foundry and ThinkTechAct, which IRS records indicate lost its nonprofit status in 2020, hosted a total of some two dozen meal sites, records indicate. Ibrahim is accused of illegally receiving more than $20 million in federal funds, much of which was passed on to the owners of Empire Cuisine & Market in Shakopee, Minnesota.COVID-19 relief fraud"probably the biggest fraud ever committed against the American people.