Woman involved in Feeding Our Future fraud scheme pleads guilty to money laundering

A woman who claimed to be serving two meals to 3,250 children a day out of a small Minneapolis grocery store during the pandemic has pleaded guilty to her role in the $250 million Feeding Our Future fraud case.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office of Minnesota, Najmo Ahmed pleaded guilty to one count of money laundering on Monday in federal court.

Court documents state Ahmed and her husband, Said Ereg, registered their store, Evergreen Grocery and Deli, as a Federal Child Nutrition Program meal site under the sponsorship of the nonprofit Feeding Our Future. Between April 2020 and April 2021, the business claimed to have served 1.4 million meals and obtained $4.2 million in reimbursements.

Prosecutors say Ahmed laundered $1.4 million in fraudulent proceeds through her personal bank account, transferring more than $1.1 million to foreign trading and textile companies and spending thousands more on luxury clothing brands.

Out of 70 defendants charged in the Feeding Our Future case, at least 34 defendants have now pleaded guilty; five others were convicted at trial.

Two co-defendants, Feeding Our Future founder Aimee Bock and Safari Restaurant owner Salim Said, are in the midst of a trial that is now in its third week.

You can find KSTP’s full coverage of the Feeding Our Future case here.