Bloomington man pleads guilty to wire fraud in $250M Feeding Our Future fraud scheme
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. -- A Bloomington man has pleaded guilty to his role in the $250 million federally-funded child nutrition program, Feeding Our Future, fraud scheme.
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According to the defendant's guilty plea and court documents, Abdulkadir Awale, 50, admitted that he knowingly participated in a fraudulent scheme with the intent to "obtain and misappropriate" millions in federal program funding from April 2020 through 2022.
Awale enrolled his business, Karmel Coffee, LLC, Sambusa King, Inc., and Nawal Restaurant, Inc. in the Federal Child Nutrition Program as venders, show court documents and guilty plea.
Awale falsely claimed that through his businesses, he provided food for more than 3.6 million meals to various sites in Minnesota, totally approximately $11.8 million in fraudulent federal nutrition funds.
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As part of the scheme, Awale also admits to paying at least $83,000 in kickbacks to a Feeding Our Future employee in exchange for Awale's participation in the program.
According to court documents, Awale used some of the funds to pay off his home mortgage, make cash withdrawals, and purchase vehicles.
Awale pled guilty on Tuesday to one count of wire fraud before Judge Nancy E. Brasel. He has also agreed to pay more than $2 million in restitution.
A sentencing hearing has yet to be scheduled.
NOTE: This video originally aired on March 13, 2023.