Few things are as evil as exploiting programs meant for children.

Let’s talk about some people who did just that: 

A Chaska resident has pleaded guilty for his involvement in a $250 million fraud scheme. The scheme exploited a federally-funded child nutrition program during the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to court documents, from approximately November 2020 through January 2022, Mohamed Muse Noor, also known as “Deeq Darajo,” knowingly participated in a scheme to defraud a federal child nutrition program designed to provide free meals to children in need. Rather than feeding children, Noor and his co-defendants took advantage of the COVID-19 pandemic—and its impact on program regulations—to misappropriate millions of dollars in federal child nutrition program funds for personal gain.

Court documents indicate that Noor was specifically recruited for the Feeding Our Future scheme despite lacking background or experience in food procurement or distribution. In December 2020, Noor submitted his application to be enrolled in the Federal Child Nutrition Program through Feeding Our Future employee Abdikerm Eidleh, directed by Aimee Bock, the former Executive Director of the Feeding Our Future non-profit organization. Under Eidleh’s guidance, Noor signed forms with falsified meal counts and fabricated invoices, falsely claiming to feed supper and snacks to 1,500 children daily within weeks of being sponsored by Feeding Our Future. However, Noor did not personally serve any meals to these children and never visited the sites registered in his name by Feeding Our Future.

As detailed in the plea agreement, Noor paid kickbacks to Eidleh in exchange for Feeding Our Future’s sponsorship in the Federal Child Nutrition Program. Food distribution sites associated with Noor fraudulently obtained up to $1.3 million in federal child nutrition program funds by falsely claiming to have served meals to thousands of children per day. Almost all of this $1.3 million was either transferred to Eidleh or intercepted by Eidleh without Noor’s knowledge. As part of their arrangement, Noor retained approximately $52,388 in fraudulent proceeds for himself.

Noor pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.  

Stories like these show us how important it is to closely monitor funds meant for children.