Abdinasir Abshir, a 33-year-old man from Lakeville, has entered a guilty plea to wire fraud charges related to his involvement in the $250 million Feeding Our Future fraud scheme. This development marks Abshir as the 37th defendant to plead guilty in a sprawling case that has shaken the foundations of the Federal Child Nutrition Program.
Court documents reveal that Abshir was instrumental in registering program sites at Stigma-Free Mankato and J’s Sambusa under the auspices of Feeding Our Future. Between November 2020 and November 2021, Abshir fraudulently claimed to serve meals to 3,000 children daily at J’s Sambusa in North Mankato—a figure grossly inflated given the town’s population of approximately 14,000.
The fraudulent operations reportedly distributed 1.6 million meals during the period, resulting in Stigma-Free Mankato receiving $5.4 million. In addition to the fraudulent gains, records show that Abshir facilitated kickbacks totaling $100,000 to Feeding Our Future employee Abdikerm Eidleh and paid $420,000 in administrative fees to the organization. He also contributed $5,750 to a GoFundMe account set up for Feeding Our Future by Aimee Bock.
Complicating Abshir’s legal troubles is an incident of witness tampering during the trial of co-defendants Aimee Bock and Salim Said. Abshir confronted government witness Sharmake Jama on February 18, shortly before Jama was scheduled to testify. This act of intimidation is expected to influence Abshir’s sentencing, underscoring the serious nature of his offenses.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office has indicated that the witness tampering will likely result in enhanced sentencing for Abshir, reflecting the gravity of his actions and their impact on the judicial process. This case continues to unravel as more details come to light, highlighting the extensive corruption that compromised a federal program designed to serve children in need.
