43 Somalis living in Minnesota charged with stealing $250 million from child feeding program

GOOBJOOG NEWS|MINNESOTA: The United States government announced charges against 43 Somalis accused of embezzling $250 million intended to feed needy children during the CoronaVirus pandemic.

A statement from the US Department of Justice described it as the biggest fraud that investigators have uncovered so far. The accused are facing various charges.

Prosecutors said the defendants set up a nonprofit Minnesota-based child nutrition company to take advantage of the U.S. government’s child nutrition program, which is designed to provide food to children in low-income families. low.

This child feeding program was expanded by the US Congress at the beginning of the Covid19 crisis, to allow more organizations to participate.

The Justice Department pointed out that the defendants fraudulently claimed to be feeding thousands of children every day. The Justice Department also said the defendants submitted false invoices and lists of false names to show who was being fed.

According to prosecutors, the defendants used the proceeds of the scheme to buy real estate in Minnesota, Kenya and Turkey, luxury cars and jewelry.

The US government said an unspecified number of people had been arrested, but some of the accused were said to be no longer in the US.