Abdikern Eidleh, 42, (Photo / Sherburne County Jail)
MINNEAPOLIS (KFGO) – A man facing 31 fraud, bribery and money laundering charges in the feeding our future fraud scheme has been returned to Minnesota by law enforcement after his arrest in Somalia last month.
Abdikerm Eidleh, 42, reportedly fled to Somalia in 2022 after being charged for stealing taxpayer funded dollars from COVID-19 programs intended to help parents feed their kids during the pandemic. Eidleh allegedly set up fraudulent meal sites, and also recruited others to join the large scale fraud operation.
“Fraudsters like Abdikerm Eidleh should know full well that they cannot escape the full weight of the Justice Department,” said Assistant Attorney General Colin M. McDonald of the Justice Department’s National Fraud Enforcement Division.
U.S. Attorney for Minnesota Daniel Rosen says Eidleh is second only to Aimee Bock in the feeding our future scheme. Bock was sentenced in May to more than 40 years in prison for her role as the leader of the scheme.
“Today is a historic moment in this FBI’s war on fraud,” said FBI Director Kash Patel. “The transfer of Abdikerm Abdelahi Eidleh brings to justice one of the alleged ringleaders of the $250 million ‘Feeding our Future’ fraud scandal out of Minnesota – where this FBI has already helped secure over 70 guilty pleas from fraudsters in partnership with the Justice Department. These are individuals who stole critical, taxpayer funded resources from kids in need during the COVID
pandemic – and Eidleh was allegedly right at the top of the operation.”
Eidleh was booked into the Sherburne County Jail Thursday and will make his first court Friday.
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