A couple who pleaded guilty for their roles in the $250 million Feeding our Future fraud scheme learned their sentences Wednesday in federal court.
42-year Mekfira Hussein and 45-year-old Abduljabar Hussein both pleaded guilty last year to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
The Shakopee couple operated phony meal distribution sites and received nearly $9 million in federal funds, which they used to pay off their home mortgage and buy luxury vehicles.
“The Husseins stole money that was meant for vulnerable children. Their sentences today reflect my office’s commitment to holding those who defraud the American taxpayer accountable,” said United States Attorney Daniel N. Rosen.
Mekfira will spend nearly five years in prison. Abduljabar Hussein received a nearly 3.5 year prison sentence.
According to court documents, Mekfira Hussein was the president and owner of Shamsia Hopes, a nonprofit corporation located in Brooklyn Center that operated Federal Child Nutrition Program sites under the sponsorship of Feeding Our Future. Mekfira’s husband, Abduljabar Hussein created a company, Oromia Feeds LLC, that purported to provide food to children at Shamsia Hopes’ sites in Brooklyn Park, Brooklyn Center, Minneapolis, and Fridley.
Documents show the two also paid thousands of dollars in kickbacks to Abdikerm Eidleh, a Feeding Our Future employee, in exchange for Feeding Our Future’s sponsorship of the Husseins companies’ fraudulent participation in the Federal Child Nutrition Program.
At least 30 people have been officially sentenced out of the 66 total convictions secured in the massive $250 million Feeding Our Future pandemic relief fraud scheme, with federal judges holding rolling sentencing hearings for the dozens convicted individuals yet to learn their sentences.
