5 accused of bribing juror with $120,000 cash in Feeding Our Future fraud trial

MINNEAPOLIS — Five people have been indicted for their alleged roles in attempting to bribe a juror out of $120,000 during the Feeding Our Future fraud trial earlier this month.

During the trial, a juror was dismissed after reporting that a woman dropped a bag of cash at her home and offered her more money if she voted to acquit seven people accused of stealing more than $40 million in a program to feed children during the trial. pandemic. The entire scheme is estimated to have embezzled $250 million in federal funds in what officials are calling the “largest pandemic fraud in the United States.”

U.S. Attorney Andrew Luger called the bribery attempt “a chilling attack on our justice system” and said he was glad “Juror 52 could not be bribed.”

According to the Justice Department, the five defendants targeted the 23-year-old juror because she was the youngest and because they considered her to be the only juror of color.

The five defendants – Abdiaziz Shafii Farah, Abdimajid Mohamed Nur, Said Shafii Farah, Abdulkarim Shafii Farah and Ladan Mohamed Ali – found the juror’s information online, including his home address.

Luger said Nur, who was one of the defendants in the Feeding Our Future lawsuit, recruited Ali to carry out the project. Ali arrived from Seattle on May 30 and the next day followed the juror home from downtown Minneapolis after the first day of closing arguments.

Abdiaziz Farah asked Nur to meet him at Said Farah’s company to collect the $200,000 bribe. Nur then met Ali and gave him the money, the Justice Department said.

On the evening of June 2, Abdulkarim Farah drove Ali to the juror’s home, where she handed a gift bag containing $120,000 in cash to the juror’s relative. She promised there would be more money if the juror voted to acquit all the defendants. Abdulkarim Farah took a video of Ali depositing the money and sent it to his co-conspirators, officials said.

The conspirators also had written a list of instructions for the juror, Luger said. His job would be to “convince all remaining jurors to find NOT GUILTY on all defendants and on all counts.” They also compiled a list of “arguments to convince other jurors,” many of which aimed to convince jurors that the prosecution was racially motivated.

One of the conspirators “purchased a GPS tracking device to secretly install” on the juror’s car “to track his movements,” Luger’s department said.

Abdiaziz Farah wiped his phone after the judge ordered it handed over to law enforcement. Nur and Said Farah also deleted evidence of the bribe from their phones, documents show.

“The sophistication and intentionality of this plot cannot be overstated,” Luger said.

Abdiaziz Farah and Nur were two of the five accused guilty during the trial. Said Farah was found not guilty.

Abdiaziz Farah, Abdulkarim Farah and Said Farah are related. The five accused are currently in custody.

“We will finish the work started by Juror 52. We will bring these defendants to justice,” Luger said.

Another 45 people are still expected to stand trial for fraud, including the nonprofit’s founder Aimee Bock, who has maintained her innocence. The defendants are accused of spending the money on luxury cars, jewelry, travel and real estate, while only a fraction went to feed low-income children.

On Wednesday, Luger charged the five defendants with conspiracy to bribe a juror, bribery of a juror and corrupt influence on a juror. Abdiaziz Farah was also charged with obstructing justice.