A man accused of participating in the Feeding Our Future fraud scheme surrendered himself and was arrested in Minneapolis.
Said Abdullahi Ereg, 47, faces charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Minnesota said that during the COVID-19 pandemic, his grocery store and deli were sponsored by the now-defunct nonprofit Feeding Our Future.
Federal prosecutors said Mr. Ereg defrauded the Federal Child Nutrition Program of $4.2 million between April 2020 and April 2021 by filing false claims for reimbursement.
Mr. Ereg’s business claimed at times to have served over 3,000 meals twice a day, seven days a week, the U.S. attorney’s office said.
The FBI, which put Mr. Ereg on its “Most Wanted Fraudsters” list when it was first announced on June 4, said Mr. Ereg spent the money on his family’s “lavish lifestyle” and put some funds into “foreign accounts controlled by foreign companies.”
In addition, Mr. Ereg’s wife, Najmo Ahmed, worked at the grocery store and was also paid by Feeding Our Future. Federal prosecutors said Ahmed pleaded guilty to one count of money laundering on Feb. 24, 2025, and that she’s due for sentencing on Monday.
The day after the list was released, Mr. Ereg’s counsel communicated his desire to return to the U.S., federal prosecutors said.
The authorities arranged for Mr. Ereg to fly from Kenya to London, then from London to Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, where he was arrested Wednesday, according to The Minnesota Star Tribune.
FBI Director Kash Patel said that “we set up the historic, first-ever ’Most Wanted Fraudsters’ list for this exact purpose — to bring to justice the alleged worst of the worst who took advantage of American taxpayers and stole public funds, and let them know that the days of Washington, D.C., turning a blind eye to fraud are over.”
The FBI’s list is part of a partnership with the White House Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, led by Vice President J.D. Vance.
Mr. Vance said Monday on X that he referred a House Oversight Committee report on allegations that fraud was enabled by Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, both Democrats, to the Justice Department’s National Fraud Enforcement Division.
That division was set up in April.
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