5 convicted in Covid pandemic fraud case following bribe attempt

A jury in the US has convicted five Minnesota residents and acquitted two others for their involvement in a scheme to embezzle over $40 million meant for feeding children during the coronavirus pandemic.

Abdiaziz Shafii Farah, Mohamed Jama Ismail, Abdimajid Mohamed Nur, Mukhtar Mohamed Shariff, and Hayat Mohamed Nur were convicted on Friday (June 7) on the majority of the charges brought against them.

Said Shafii Farah and Abdiwahab Maalim Aftin were acquitted on all counts they faced.

Add WION as a Preferred Source

The case got significant attention when an attempt was made to bribe a juror with a bag containing $120,000 in cash.

That juror was discharged before deliberations began, and a second juror who was told about the bribe attempt was also dismissed.

An FBI investigation of the attempted bribe is on, with no arrests announced yet.

The seven defendants are among the initial 70 individuals to face trial in what federal prosecutors have labeled as one of the largest COVID-19-related frauds in the country, exploiting rules that were negligent so that the economy wouldn’t crash during the pandemic.

It is worth mentioning that more than $250 million in federal funds was taken in the Minnesota scheme overall, with only about $50 million of it recovered, authorities said.

The defendants faced multiple counts including conspiracy, wire fraud, money laundering and federal programmes bribery.

Defence attorneys argued that the defendants provided real meals to real people.

An Associated Press analysis published last June documented how thieves across the country plundered billions in federal COVID-19 relief dollars.

Fraudsters stole more than $280 billion, while another $123 billion was wasted or misspent. Collectively, the loss represent 10% of the $4.3 trillion the government disbursed by last fall.

Nearly 3,200 defendants have been charged and about $1.4 billion in stolen pandemic aid has been seized, according to the U.S. Justice Department.

The Minnesota case drew attention after the judge and attorneys for both sides learned about the bribe attempt.

According to an FBI agent’s affidavit, a handed the relative of juror a gift bag with a curly ribbon and images of flowers and butterflies and said it was a “present” for the juror.

"The woman told the relative to inform Juror #52 to deliver a verdict of not guilty the following day, promising more of the same the next day," the agent documented.

"Once the woman departed, the relative inspected the gift bag and discovered it held a significant sum of cash."

The juror after learning about the cash, called police right after she got home and gave them the bag, which around $120,000.

The FBI agent noted that the alleged fraud conspiracy at the heart of the trial involved electronic communications, including text messages and emails.

Names of the jurors have not been made public.

Federal charges of bribery of a juror and influencing a juror carry a maximum potential penalty of 15 years in prison.

The aid money came from the US Department of Agriculture and was administered by the state department of education. Non-profits and other partners under the program were supposed to serve meals to kids.

Two of the groups involved, Feeding Our Future and Partners in Nutrition, were small non-profits before the pandemic, but in 2021 they disbursed about $200m each.

(With inputs from agencies)