Man pleads guilty for role in Feeding Our Future fraud scheme

A 40-year-old Chaska man charged in the Feeding Our Future fraud scheme pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court on Thursday.

Court documents state that Mohamed Muse Noor, a.k.a. “Deeq Darajo,” pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Noor was previously indicted by a federal grand jury in October 2022.

According to court records, Noor was recruited to the Feeding Our Future scheme even though he had no background or experience in buying or providing food. In December 2020, Noor submitted his application to be enrolled in the Federal Child Nutrition Program through Feeding Our Future employee Abdikerm Eidleh to Aimee Bock — former executive director of Feeding Our Future.

Under Eidleh’s direction, Noor signed forms with fake meal counts and fabricated invoices falsely claiming to be feeding meals to 1,500 children every day.

Court records show, however, that Noor did not personally serve any meals to children and never visited the sites registered in his name.

Noor paid kickbacks to Eidleh in exchange for Feeding Our Future’s sponsorship in the Federal Child Nutrition Program, according to the plea agreement Noor entered on Thursday.

Food distribution sites associated with Noor obtained up to $1.3 million in funds, with almost all of that money being transferred to Eidleh or intercepted by Eidleh without Noor knowing.

As part of the arrangement, Noor received about $52,388 in fraudulent funds for himself, court documents show.

This news comes as the federal court prepares to hold a separate jury trial for Bock and Salim Said next week.

5 EYEWITNESS NEWS will be attending Bock and Said’s jury trial next week. Be sure to check back for updates.

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