Abdi Nur Salah, a former senior policy aide to Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, has been sentenced to 33 months in federal prison for his role in the Feeding Our Future fraud scheme.
Salah, of St. Paul, Minnesota, was sentenced Oct. 1 by U.S. District Judge Nancy E. Brasel, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Minnesota. He pleaded guilty in January 2025.
Salah’s case centered on Stigma-Free International, a nonprofit sponsored by Feeding Our Future and used to operate Federal Child Nutrition Program sites around Minnesota.
Federal prosecutors said Salah ultimately received approximately $1.66 million in federal child nutrition funds. He is the 31st defendant sentenced in the broader Feeding Our Future case.
Stigma-Free Sites Claimed Nearly Five Million Meals
According to the Justice Department, Salah acquired Stigma-Free International in October 2020, shortly after the Minnesota Department of Education stopped approving new meal sites operated by restaurants and other for-profit businesses.
Salah later transferred ownership of the nonprofit to co-conspirators. They used Stigma-Free International to open Federal Child Nutrition Program sites in Willmar, Mankato, St. Cloud, Waite Park and St. Paul.
From November 2020 through November 2021, prosecutors said the sites fraudulently claimed to have served nearly five million meals to children. The claims were supported by fraudulent attendance rosters and invoices.
Feeding Our Future paid more than $10 million in federal reimbursements to the Stigma-Free International sites based on those claims, according to the Justice Department.
Prosecutors Say Shell Companies Received and Laundered Salah’s Share
The Justice Department said Salah created and used multiple shell companies to receive and launder his portion of the fraud proceeds.
Prosecutors said he used the money for personal enrichment, including the purchase of homes, other real estate and businesses. In total, the government attributed approximately $1.66 million in Federal Child Nutrition Program funds to Salah.
A January 2022 federal civil forfeiture complaint provides an earlier look at one of the real-estate transactions connected to Salah. The filing alleged that Salah and a partner purchased a four-unit building at 2529 12th Avenue South in Minneapolis for $390,000.
The complaint said a $386,000 cashier’s check from an ANS Projects LLC account was used for the purchase. Federal prosecutors alleged that $200,000 of that amount was traceable to Feeding Our Future payments routed through Stigma-Free International, Cosmopolitan Business Solutions and Tunyar Trading.
An earlier Justice Department announcement said Salah agreed as part of his plea that assets derived from the scheme were subject to forfeiture.
Those assets included $343,418.98 seized from a Star Choice Credit Union account connected to Stone Bridge Development LLC and properties in Brooklyn Park and south Minneapolis.
The Pioneer Press reported after sentencing that the court ordered Salah to forfeit $1,063,255 tied to the wire-fraud count and that the two properties were also forfeited.
Salah Pleaded Guilty Before His Scheduled Trial
Salah was originally charged in September 2022 with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering and money laundering as part of the broader Feeding Our Future prosecution.
He pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud under a plea agreement that resulted in the other three charges against him being dismissed.
FOX 9 reported that his Oct. 1 sentence also includes two years of supervised release. The outlet said U.S. Marshals took Salah into custody immediately after the sentencing hearing.
The broader Feeding Our Future investigation concerns approximately $250 million in fraud involving federal funds intended to provide meals to children during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The FBI, IRS Criminal Investigation and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service investigated Salah’s federal case.
Nutrition Program Fraud Can Be Reported Directly to USDA
The USDA Food and Nutrition Administration accepts reports involving suspected fraud, waste and abuse in federal nutrition programs.
For organizations operating nutrition programs, USDA identifies conduct such as falsely reporting the number of meals served, claiming funds for fake sites or nonexistent participants and using reimbursement money for personal expenses or luxury goods as examples of potential fraud.
USDA asks people making reports to provide as much useful information as possible, including names, locations, dates, a description of the suspected activity and available supporting material such as receipts, screenshots or photographs.
Reports involving suspected criminal activity, large-scale misuse of funds, multi-state fraud or government employee misconduct can be submitted to the USDA Office of Inspector General. USDA says reporters may choose to remain anonymous.