The Massive Minnesota Fraud Scandals: From Feeding Our Future to Billions in Medicaid Theft

Over the past few years, Minnesota has become ground zero for what federal prosecutors now call “industrial-scale” fraud targeting taxpayer-funded social programs. What began as a single high-profile case exploiting COVID-era child nutrition funds has snowballed into revelations of potentially **$9 billion or more** stolen across multiple programs—mostly Medicaid-funded services. The schemes share common threads: shell entities, fake billing for services never provided, kickbacks, and luxury spending or transfers abroad.

Here’s a clear, chronological breakdown of how it started, how it grew, and where things stand today.

The scandal traces its public origins to Feeding Our Future (FOF), a nonprofit founded in 2016 by Aimee Bock, a former teacher with prior experience running a similar meal-sponsorship organization.

FOF started small, distributing about $3.4 million annually in federal child nutrition reimbursements, primarily to sites serving Minnesota’s large Somali immigrant community.

Trouble surfaced as early as 2019, when the Minnesota Department of Education flagged suspiciously high meal claims. Bock responded aggressively, accusing regulators of racial bias and filing lawsuits that delayed oversight.

The real explosion came during the COVID-19 pandemic. Relaxed USDA rules allowed off-site meal distribution and opened the program to for-profit entities. FOF seized the opportunity, enrolling over 250 shell “meal sites”—many nonexistent or tiny storefronts—that claimed to serve millions of meals to children.

In reality, little to no food reached kids. Instead, defendants submitted fraudulent rosters, fake invoices, and wildly inflated numbers. FOF took hefty administrative fees (over $18 million) and allegedly demanded kickbacks.

The result: approximately $250 million in stolen funds—the largest COVID-relief fraud scheme charged in U.S. history.

Federal investigation began quietly in February 2021, went public with FBI raids in January 2022, and led to indictments of 78 defendants starting in September 2022. By late 2025, more than 50 have pleaded guilty or been convicted, including Bock herself, who was found guilty in March 2025 on fraud and bribery charges.

Investigators soon discovered that Feeding Our Future was just the tip of the iceberg. Leads from that case uncovered similar patterns in Medicaid-funded social services, administered primarily by the Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS).

In 2025, DHS identified 14 high-risk service provider types vulnerable to fraud. Total billings across these programs since 2018: roughly $18 billion. Prosecutors now estimate that half or more—potentially over $9 billion—may have been fraudulent.

Common tactics: - Creating fake clients or inflating hours - Billing for services never delivered - Employing unqualified staff - Paying kickbacks to recruit “clients” - Laundering proceeds through luxury goods and overseas transfers

- Autism Services (EIDBI): Billings skyrocketed from a few million to nearly $400 million annually. Centers allegedly paid parents cash to enroll children (sometimes with questionable diagnoses), then billed Medicaid for therapy provided by untrained teenagers. Two major cases charged in 2025 involved $14 million and $6 million schemes. - Housing Stabilization Services: Launched in 2020, costs ballooned to over $100 million before the program was terminated entirely in August 2025 due to rampant fraud. - Other flagged services include integrated community supports for disabled adults, adult day care, and various disability waivers.

He’s in jail, too......convicted w/ Bock.

USDoJ-—Four More Defendants Plead Guilty
to $250 Million Feeding Our Future Fraud Scheme
Friday, February 7, 2025

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Minnesota

MINNEAPOLIS – Four additional defendants have pleaded guilty for their roles in the $250 million fraud scheme that exploited a federally funded child nutrition program during the COVID-19 pandemic, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Lisa D. Kirkpatrick.

First, according to court documents, at times between October 2020 and January 2022, Abduljabar Hussein, 44, of Shakopee, Minnesota, knowingly and willfully conspired with others to participate in a fraudulent scheme to obtain and misappropriate millions in federal child nutrition funds.

According to court documents, in October 2020, Abduljabar Hussein’s wife, Mekfira Hussein, enrolled her non-profit, Shamsia Hopes, in the Federal Child Nutrition Program under the sponsorship of Feeding Our Future, at the direction of one of its employees, Abdikerm Eidleh. Mekfira Hussein submitted her application to Aimee Bock, Feeding Our Future’s executive director. In December 2020 and also at the direction of Abdikerm Eidleh, Abduljabar Hussein registered his company, Oromia Feeds LLC, with the State of Minnesota. Oromia Feeds LLC also participated in the Federal Child Nutrition Program as a vendor for food to be served by Shamsia Hopes sites run by his wife.

Together, the Husseins submitted fraudulent claims that sought reimbursement for far more meals and food than they actually prepared. Hussein and his wife submitted fraudulently inflated invoices for reimbursement—including inflated meal counts and false attendance rosters. As part of this scheme, Hussein and his wife paid at least $140,000 in kickbacks to Eidleh and least $12,000 in kickbacks to Aimee Bock, in exchange for Feeding Our Future’s sponsorship of Shamsia Hopes. In some instances, these kickback payments were disguised as “consulting fees,” when, in fact, neither Eidleh nor Aimee Bock provided any service to justify these payments.

According to his plea agreement entered today, the Husseins ultimately obtained up to $8.8 million in federal child nutrition program funds some of which they used to pay for personal expenditures unrelated to feeding children. For instance, the defendant used $173,438 of the proceeds to pay off the mortgage on his home in Shakopee, Minnesota, and also purchased a 2021 Porsche for $93,250, as well as a 2022 GMC truck for $61,722. As part of his sentence, Hussein was ordered to forfeit those vehicles as well as a 2021 Tesla, and the fraud money he applied toward his home mortgage.

Next, according to court documents, Zamzam Jama, 50, and Mustafa Jama, 48, of Rochester, Minnesota, and Asha Jama, 42, of Lakeville, Minnesota, each pled guilty to laundering fraudulent proceeds that were paid by Feeding Our Future through the Federal Child Nutrition Program to Brava Restaurant. In October 2020, Brava Restaurant, which was located in a retail strip mall in Rochester, Minnesota, enrolled as a distribution site in the Federal Child Nutrition Program under the sponsorship of Feeding Our Future.

The Jamas and their conspirators coordinated the establishment of shell companies through which they received and disbursed funds from the federal child nutrition program to make expenditures that had nothing to do with feeding children. Specifically, on January 7, 2021, Salim Said, a co-owner of Safari Restaurant in Minneapolis, paid to register six different shell companies with the state of Minnesota for the Jamas and others.

In 2021, Zamzam Jama, Mustafa Jama, and Asha Jama deposited at least $491,245, $1,429,730, and $449,933, in misappropriated Federal Child Nutrition Program funds into their respective shell entities’ bank accounts. The Jamas then used those funds for various personal expenditures that had nothing to do with feeding children.

Zamzam Jama spent Federal Child Nutrition Program funds on a home in Rosemount, Minnesota, and to purchase a 2021 Toyota RAV4 vehicle. With her guilty plea, Zamzam Jama has forfeited that vehicle, her interest in the Rosemount property, as well as $114,482 from her bank accounts in 2022 by federal investigators.

Mustafa Jama used Federal Child Nutrition Program funds to buy a home in Columbus, Ohio. He also spent $394,000 in program money toward a home in Lakeville, Minnesota, and to purchase Mediterranean coastal property in Alanya, Turkey. With his guilty plea, Mustafa Jama has forfeited any interest in the Ohio and Lakeville properties, as well as $239,500 from his bank accounts in 2022 by federal investigators.

Asha Jama spent Federal Child Nutrition Program funds toward a home in Lakeville, Minnesota, and another in Rochester, Minnesota. With her guilty plea, Zamzam Jama has forfeited her interest on those two properties any interest in that vehicle, the Rosemount property, as well as $149,880 seized from her bank accounts in 2022 by federal investigators.

In separate proceedings in U.S. District Court before Judge Nancy E. Brasel, Abduljabar Hussein pleaded guilty on February 5, 2024, to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud; Zamzam Jama pleaded guilty on February 5, 2025, to one count of money laundering; Mustafa Jama pleaded guilty on February 6, 2025, to one count of money laundering; and Asha Jama pleaded guilty on February 7, 2025, to one count of money laundering. Sentencing hearings for all four defendants will be scheduled at a later date.

The case is the result of an investigation by the FBI, IRS – Criminal Investigations, and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Matthew S. Ebert, Joseph H. Thompson, Harry M. Jacobs, and Daniel W. Bobier are prosecuting the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Craig Baune is handling the seizure and forfeiture of assets.

Updated February 7, 2025

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.