Minnesota's Feeding Our Future trial: FBI surveillance footage showed no kids were served at rundown building.
Prosecutors reinforced their argument by displaying a photo of the ramshackle site, contending that, despite Aimee Bock’s claims, there were no visible signs of meal distribution or activity.
The prosecution called Abdulkadir Awale, a Somali business owner who has pleaded guilty to wire fraud, to testify about his involvement in the federal child nutrition programs.
In the spring of 2020, Awale said two representatives from Feeding Our Future approached him, encouraging him to participate in the program by providing meals for children through his three Twin Cities restaurants—Karmel Coffee, LLC, Sambusa King, Inc., and Nawal Restaurant, Inc.
At first, Awale legitimately prepared 300 to 400 meals a day, but after three days, he found it too difficult to sustain and attempted to quit. However, he testified that one of Feeding Our Future’s employees persuaded him otherwise, telling him he was “losing a good chance to make good money” and that there was a “different way” to do it—by fabricating meal counts.
Awale ultimately claimed to have served more than 3.6 million meals, securing nearly $12 million in federal reimbursements. He also admitted to paying at least $83,000 in kickbacks to Feeding Our Future employees to stay in the program.
Awale also testified that in 2021, Bock and other Feeding Our Future employees solicited donations at a meeting to help fund legal fees amid a lawsuit with the Minnesota Department of Education.
Awale will be sentenced at a future date.
https://alphanews.org/feeding-our-future-trial-fbi-surveillance-footage-showed-no-kids-were-served-at-rundown-building/