Man accused of operating fraudulent food distribution site with Salim Said pleads guilty

A man accused of stealing over $7.3 million in Federal Child Nutrition Program funds with his co-conspirators has entered a guilty plea, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Abdihakim Ahmed, 40, pleaded guilty to wire fraud and money laundering in federal court on Monday morning.

Ahmed claimed to be serving 2,000-3,000 children daily at ASA Limited, which was run out of Gurey Deli — a small market in St. Paul. Salim Said, who was found guilty in federal court last week, ran the site with him.

In just a year, Ahmed and his co-conspirators claimed to be serving 1.6 million meals from the ASA Limited site and were reimbursed $7.3 million.

Aimee Bock, the now-defunct non-profit’s former founder, submitted the claims for reimbursement. She was also convicted in federal court last week.

He submitted attendance rosters filled with fake names and ages, even using a formula to generate a random age for each child, prosecutors say.

Ahmed used proceeds from the fraud scheme to purchase the former location on Kelly’s 19th Hole and a 2022 Mini Cooper — both of which will be forfeited to the U.S. government.

He is also accused of paying nearly $50,000 in kickback fees to Abdikerm Eidleh in exchange for Feeding Our Future sponsoring and facilitating ASA Limited’s participation in the Federal Child Nutrition Program.

You can find more of KSTP’s reporting on the Feeding Our Future case here.