There's been a fairly shocking and bizarre twist Monday in the Feeding Our Future fraud trial. And it's straight out of a movie script.
Reports out of the courtroom on Monday detail a juror being dismissed after being offered $120,000 in a bag to acquit defendants with the promise of "another bag" as well.
A juror reported being contacted Sunday evening about a "bag of cash". The juror called 911 and and the money is in custody of police and the FBI. That juror has been dismissed from the case.
The 23-year old juror says she was not home a the time, but her father in law was there when it happened.
The judge has ordered all defendants' phones be frozen, potentially to be searched for other improper contact. The prosecutor has requested that the jurors be sequestered during deliberations as well. They also requested all juror phones be confiscated. The other jurors were all asked if they had experienced other unauthorized contact by the judge.
Closing arguments for three remaining defendants, who are accused of a number of crimes in the case, were to be given today before the case heads to the jury. The trial is in its seventh week.
The trial went on break while attorneys conference on the development. After a short break, closing statements continued and deliberations were still expected to begin deliberating Monday.
The seven defendants are Said Shafii Farah, Abdiaziz Shafii Farah, Mohamed Jama Ismail, Abdimajid Mohamed Nur, Abdiwahab Maalim Aftin, Mukhtar Mohamed Shariff and Hayat Mohamed Nur. All were charged in 2022 with wire fraud, money laundering and other charges in the largest COVID-relief fraud case in the country.
The seven will be the first of 70 defendants to go on trial in the alleged scam. Eighteen others have already pleaded guilty.
Prosecutors have said the seven collectively stole over $40 million in a conspiracy that cost taxpayers $250 million — one of the largest pandemic-related fraud cases in the country. Federal authorities say they have recovered about $50 million.