Two brothers who were charged in the massive Feeding Our Future fraud case pleaded guilty in federal court on Tuesday — just days before their jury trial was scheduled to begin.

The two men, Abdulkadir Nur Salah and Abdi Nur Salah, were both included in the 14 people who were named under the indictment for FOF Executive Director Aimee Bock. They face up to 20 years in prison and fines of up to $250,000.

They are accused of knowingly participating in a scheme to defraud the federal child nutrition program out of millions of dollars — program funding that was meant to be used as reimbursements.

“Rather than feed children, the defendants took advantage of the Covid-19 pandemic — and the resulting program changes — to enrich themselves by fraudulently misappropriating millions of dollars in federal child nutrition program funds,” said the U.S. Attorney’s Office in a news release Tuesday.

Abdulkadir Nur Salah, 38, pleaded guilty to wire fraud. His other charges will be dismissed at sentencing. The sentencing guidelines, determined by a variety of factors, are between nine and over 11 years(135 months).

Jointly, Abdulkadir Salah and the other defendants in the case owe $44 million in restitution. In court, he admitted that he and co-conspirators paid “kickback” to Bock and Feeding Our Future in exchange for sponsoring sites — such as the now-closed “Safari Restaurant” in Minneapolis — that falsely claimed to feed thousands of children during the pandemic.

Court officials say Safari Restaurant alone received over $16 million in fraudulent funds.

In response to Abdulkadir Salah telling the court he paid kickbacks to Bock, her attorney Kenneth Udoibok called it “a big fat lie.”

In November of 2022 alone, he claimed to serve more than 800,000 meals, for which the government reimbursed him more than $4 million.

Abdi Nur Salah, 37, also pleaded guilty to wire fraud, with his other charges to be dismissed at sentencing. The sentencing guidelines call for around two to three years in prison(24-27 months).

Abdi Salah was fired from his job as an aide to Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey in 2022 after fraud allegations came to light. Court officials say he registered Stigma-Free International, a non-profit used to carry out the fraud scheme, with sites throughout the state.

Outside the courtroom, Abdi Salah’s attorney, Brian Toder, told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS, “There was an agreement that his role in the offense was minimal. That’s a term of art because it really affects the sentencing guidelines.”

As part of their guilty pleas, Abdulkadir and Abdi Salah agreed that a variety of assets and money came from the fraud scheme and are subject to forfeiture to the United States.

For Abdulkadir Salah, that includes:

• Nearly $310,000 seized from a bank account connected to Safari Restaurant
• Over $435,500 seized from a bank account for 3017 LLC
• Nearly $473,000 seized from a separate bank account for 3017 LLC
• Real estate property at 2722 Park Avenue South in Minneapolis

For Abdi Salah, that includes:

• Over $343,400 seized from a credit union account for Stone Bridge Development LLC
• Real estate property at 8432 Noble Avenue North in Brooklyn Park
• Real estate property at 2529 12th Avenue South in Minneapolis

Jury selection for Bock and co-conspirator Salim Said begins next week. 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS will be in the courtroom to bring you the latest.

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