Following a week of jury selection, opening statements got underway Monday morning in the first federal trial regarding the massive Feeding Our Future fraud scheme.

Investigators accuse the nonprofit and others of carrying out the largest pandemic relief fraud in the nation, stealing $250 million in taxpayer funds meant to help feed children in need. 

Six men and one woman are charged in this first case, facing a variety of charges, including conspiracy, wire fraud and bribery worth $40 million. 

The opening statements featured a contrast in styles, with prosecutors telling jurors that, despite the many names and organizations involved in the case, the essence of the fraud was simple.

“The defendants had a plan to game the system, a plan to line their pockets, a plan to manipulate and exploit a crisis,” said Assistant U.S Attorney Matt Ebert. 

Over the course of an hour, the prosecution told jurors that the defendants took advantage of an opportunity when the government relaxed the rules about who could participate in the Federal Child Nutrition Program during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

 Some of the defendants are accused of falsifying meal counts and the names of children who reportedly received meals for which vendors were reimbursed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE). 

“The lie that you will hear spread and the amount of stolen money grew and grew,” Ebert said. “Their fraud went viral.”

Prosecutors also showed the jury text messages between some of the defendants, including one that said, “This food stuff is kind of a golden ticket.”

One at a time, lawyers for six of the seven defendants pushed back on the government’s case in their own opening statements, highlighting what they described as a complex and sometimes confusing process.

Several shared the life stories of their clients, many of whom fled civil war in Somalia as children before coming to the United States and Minnesota. 

Andy Birrell, attorney for Abdiaziz Farah, described for jurors how Farah’s mother was killed by a bomb blast before his father and siblings ended up in a refugee camp in Kenya.

“They often didn’t have enough to eat,” Birrell said. 

Defense attorneys described many of their clients as entrepreneurs who never knowingly participated in any fraud.

They pointed any possible blame at nonprofit sponsors, such as Feeding our Future and MDE. 

Several attorneys flatly insisted the government’s central claim that the defendants made up fake meals was false.

“The food was real and it was really delivered. You’re going to see proof of so much food,” said Edward Sapone, attorney for Abdi Nur. 

Prosecutors began calling witnesses by Monday afternoon, starting with Emily Honer, Director of Nutrition Program Services, who the government says was first to raise “red flags” about possible fraud. 

Defense attorneys also gave jurors a preview of how they plan to attack the credibility of a former Feeding Our Future employee, Hadith Ahmed, who already pleaded guilty and plans to testify for the government. 

“By his own admission, he created fake meal sites and submitted false claims to the government,” said Steve Schleicher, attorney for Said Farah. “He went from Feeding our Future to feeding the feds… and the government, they gave him a deal.”

The trial is expected to last several weeks. Testimony resumes Tuesday morning. 

Complete Feeding Our Future Coverage