Thursday August 7, 2025
In this courtroom sketch, Abdiaziz Farah addresses the court at his sentencing hearing on Wednesday, Aug. 6, 2025 in Minneapolis. U.S. District Judge Nancy Brasel sentenced Farah to 28 years in prison for his role in the Feeding Our Future fraud scheme.Cedric Hohnstadt
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn (HOL) — Abdiaziz Shafii Farah, a Somali-American businessman convicted of orchestrating one of the largest COVID-19 fraud schemes in U.S. history, was sentenced Wednesday to 28 years in prison for stealing tens of millions of dollars intended to feed children during the pandemic.
The sentence is the longest imposed so far in the Feeding Our Future case and the second-longest white-collar prison term in Minnesota history. Only Tom Petters, convicted in 2009 of operating a $3.65 billion Ponzi scheme, received a longer sentence of 50 years.
Farah, 36, was also ordered to pay $47.9 million in restitution and will serve three years of supervised release. Federal prosecutors described him as a top figure in the “Feeding Our Future” scheme, which involved dozens of defendants across Minnesota.
According to court documents, Farah falsely claimed to serve 18 million meals to children through food sites he operated under the name Empire Cuisine & Market. In reality, many of the supposed meal sites were vacant lots or empty buildings.
Prosecutors said that Farah not only exploited the program early on but also recruited others into the scheme, positioning himself as a central coordinator.
At his trial last year, jurors convicted Farah on 23 counts, including wire fraud, money laundering, and federal programs bribery. Prosecutors said he used more than $8 million, the highest personal gain among all defendants so far, in stolen taxpayer funds to purchase luxury vehicles, real estate in Minnesota and Kentucky, and a 12-story apartment complex in Nairobi, Kenya.
In an attempt to avoid prosecution, Farah applied for a new passport after federal agents seized his original in 2022, falsely claiming it was lost. He then purchased a one-way ticket to Kenya before being arrested.
During Wednesday’s sentencing, U.S. District Judge Nancy Brasel called Farah’s crimes “breathtakingly elaborate” and driven by “pure, unmitigated greed.”
“This country gave you a home, education, and opportunity,” Brasel told Farah. “You repaid it with fraud on a massive scale,” he noted that Farah had received public housing, a full-ride college scholarship funded by UnitedHealth, and worked in state government roles, including at the Minnesota Department of Transportation and the Met Council, before turning to fraud.
Updated investigations have estimated the total fraud at between $300 million and $400 million, making it the largest pandemic-era fraud case involving child nutrition funds in the United States.
Farah tearfully apologized in court, expressing regret for the impact on his family and community. “I destroyed my family structure,” he said. “I let down the state and judicial system that saved me from a refugee camp.”
However, Judge Brasel and prosecutors noted that Farah’s apology focused primarily on his later attempt to bribe a juror, rather than the original crimes. In June 2024, near the end of his trial, Farah, along with his brothers—Said Shafii Farah and Abdulkarim Shafii Farah—and two others, Abdimajid Mohamed Nur and Ladan Mohamed Ali, attempted to bribe a juror by delivering a bag containing $120,000 in cash to her home. The juror was dismissed, and the remaining jury was sequestered. All five have since pleaded guilty. In June, Farah pleaded guilty to offering $120,000 to influence a juror during his trial. He faces additional sentencing for that offence.
Prosecutors said Farah's actions harmed not only the public trust but also the Somali-American refugee community from which he rose. “He viewed the system as something to be gamed,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Joseph H. Thompson. “He didn’t want the American dream; he wanted the money.”
The case remains one of the largest pandemic fraud prosecutions in the country. Federal officials estimate that they have recovered between $60 million and $75 million, but funds sent overseas, including to Kenya, are unlikely to be retrieved.
Farah is the latest among more than 70 defendants charged in connection with the scheme. He was tried alongside Aimee Bock, the founder of Feeding Our Future, who prosecutors describe as the scheme’s architect, and Salim Said. Both were convicted in March 2025 but have not yet been sentenced. Prosecutors placed the trio at the top of the fraud pyramid.
On Wednesday, federal prosecutors announced that Hussein Mohamed Farah, executive director of the St. Paul-based New Vision Foundation, became the 73rd defendant charged in the scheme. He is accused of submitting falsified meal counts and rosters to claim $2.7 million in federal reimbursements for meals allegedly served through New Vision's sites under Feeding Our Future’s sponsorship.