A former campaign associate of Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) has pleaded guilty to participating in a multi-million-dollar pandemic food fraud conspiracy, adding another chapter to the growing list of controversies surrounding the progressive lawmaker\u2019s political orbit.<\/p>\n
Federal prosecutors announced that 49-year-old Guhaad Hashi Said \u2014\u00a0described<\/a>\u00a0by Alpha News as an \u201cenforcer\u201d for Omar\u2019s campaign \u2014\u00a0admitted in court<\/a>\u00a0to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering. The charges stem from a wide-ranging fraud targeting a federally funded child nutrition program during the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n \u201cThe conviction of the 52nd defendant in the Feeding Our Future case is yet another reminder of the vast reach of this fraud and the scale of the crisis we face in Minnesota,\u201d Acting U.S. Attorney Joseph H. Thompson said in a statement. \u201cThese crimes are not isolated events. They are part of a web of schemes targeting programs that are intended to lift up Minnesotans and bleeding them dry. From where I sit, the scale of the fraud in Minnesota is staggering, and every rock we turn over reveals more. We must be honest and clear-eyed about the scope of this problem, because ending it will take an unyielding, all-hands-on-deck effort from all of us.\u201d<\/p>\n According to court documents, between December 2020 and January 2022, Said exploited the Federal Child Nutrition Program, falsely claiming his nonprofit \u2014 Advance Youth Athletic Development \u2014 was serving thousands of meals daily to underprivileged children. Incorporated in February 2021, the organization was registered to a residential apartment in the Central Avenue Lofts in Minneapolis.<\/p>\n Beginning in March 2021, Said submitted meal count sheets claiming to have served 5,000 meals per day. From March through December of that year, he claimed to have served more than 1 million meals \u2014 but in reality provided only a fraction of that number. Prosecutors say he fabricated meal counts, attendance rosters, and invoices to secure reimbursements.<\/p>\n The scheme brought in roughly $2.9 million in federal funds. Between August and December 2021, Said transferred more than $2.1 million from his organization\u2019s bank accounts to a catering business, ostensibly for food purchases, while using other proceeds to buy real estate, cars, and personal items through a network of shell nonprofits and LLCs.<\/p>\n Said now faces up to 25 years in federal prison when sentenced. He previously ran for the Minnesota House of Representatives in 2018.<\/p>\n While Omar herself has not been implicated in the Feeding Our Future scandal, the conviction comes against a backdrop of past ethical and political controversies tied to the congresswoman. In 2019, the Minnesota Campaign Finance Board\u00a0found<\/a>\u00a0that Omar\u2019s state legislative campaign had violated reporting requirements and improperly used campaign funds for personal expenses, ordering her to reimburse $3,469.23.<\/p>\n