Luxury cars and private villas: See how Minnesota fraudsters spent millions intended for hungry kids
Luxury cars, private villas and overseas wire transfers: CBS News obtained dozens of files and photos that reveal how Minnesota fraudsters blew through hundreds of millions in taxpayer dollars as part of one of the biggest COVID-era fraud schemes.
The files document a spending spree in which defendants, many of Somali descent, took taxpayer money meant to feed hungry children and used it to buy cars, property and jewelry. Videos show them popping champagne at an opulent Maldives resort. In a text message, one defendant boasts: "You are gonna be the richest 25 year old InshaAllah [God willing]."
The documents feature exhibits from a recent federal trial, many of which are being made public by CBS News for the first time. The exhibits include:
At the sentencing of a defendant who used taxpayer funds for cars and the Maldives vacation, 24-year-old Abdimajid Mohamed Nur, U.S. District Judge Nancy E. Brasel admonished him, saying: "Where others saw a crisis and rushed to help, you saw money and rushed to steal." He was sentenced to 10 years in prison and ordered to pay nearly $48 million in restitution for his role in the fraud scheme.
Nur is one of dozens who siphoned hundreds of millions in stolen taxpayer funds — with questions still swirling about where all the money went. The crime has drawn renewed attention in recent weeks: House Republicans last week launched a probe into Minnesota Democratic Gov. Tim Walz's handling of the cases, and the Treasury Department said it will investigate whether money made its way to al Qaeda affiliate al Shabaab, which is based in Somalia.
"A lot of money has been transferred from the individuals who committed this fraud," Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Sunday on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan." Much of that money "has gone overseas, and we are tracking that both to the Middle East and to Somalia to see what the uses of that have been." Multiple federal investigators told CBS News there is no evidence taxpayer dollars were funneled to al Shabaab, and prosecutors have yet to present any evidence linking any of the fraudsters to terrorism.
"The vast majority of the money that these folks made went to spending on luxury items for themselves," said Andy Luger, the former U.S. Attorney who led the office which prosecuted Nur and other related frauds from 2022 until January. "There was never any evidence that this money went to fund terrorism nor was there any evidence that was the intent of the 70 people we indicted."
A CBS News review of the files shows that defendants wired millions in stolen funds overseas, including to banks and companies in China. Officials said finding the ultimate recipients of money routed through China will be challenging because it can be an investigative black hole.
The defendants also transferred nearly $3 million to accounts in Kenya.
Abdiaziz Shafii Farah, 36, who was sentenced to 28 years in prison last month for his role in the scheme, made six separate wire transfers worth more than $1 million to banks in China between February and July 2021, according to records reviewed by CBS News.
In one text, Farah instructed someone to "please send $1000 to Mogadishu bakara," an apparent reference to a one-time al Shabaab stronghold that was the site of the infamous 1993 "Black Hawk Down" incident in which 18 American servicemembers died.
Farah owned and operated Empire Cuisine and Market, a Minnesota restaurant that contracted with the nonprofit Feeding Our Future to cook and provide meals to children. Prosecutors say he and his co-defendants billed the state for $47 million, claiming to have served 18 million meals at more than 30 locations — but they didn't distribute a single meal.
Hundreds of documents related to Farah's case detail how he spent money on luxury cars, investment properties at home and overseas, plus first-class travel to exotic destinations, including Istanbul and the Emirates. The defendants used sea planes to travel to resorts in the Maldives, where in one video, Farah is seen popping champagne at a private pool villa in July 2021.
At Farah's sentencing, a judge said his crimes were motivated by "pure, unmitigated greed." Farah's attorneys did not respond to CBS News' request for comment, including to a question about whether any of the fraud proceeds were diverted to Al Shabaab.
Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar said Sunday on "Face The Nation with Margaret Brennan" that any link between allegations of fraud by members of the Somali community and terrorism would be a "failure of the FBI."
"If there was a linkage in the money that they have stolen going to terrorism, then that is a failure of the FBI and our court system in not figuring that out," Omar said.
So far, federal prosecutors have convicted 61 people in the widening Minnesota fraud scandal. More investigations are ongoing.
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