Minnesota Somali Fraudster Gets 30 Years After $44 Million Scheme Exploited Food Program for Hungry Children
by David Lindfield
A Somali-born Minneapolis restaurant operator has been sentenced to 30 years in prison for his role in stealing $44 million from taxpayers through a fraud scheme that exploited a federal program intended to feed needy children during the pandemic.
Salim Said, who operated the Ilhan Omar-linked Safari Restaurant, submitted inflated meal claims and recruited others into the operation, according to prosecutors.
While he claimed to distribute 6,000 meals daily, FBI cameras showed approximately 40 people a day collecting food.
U.S. District Judge Nancy Brasel told Said:
“You took more than taxpayers’ dollars to enrich yourself.
“You took the reputation of our state down with you.”
The sentence marks another major punishment in the Feeding Our Future scandal, which has produced dozens of convictions and exposed serious failures in Minnesota’s oversight of taxpayer money.
Prosecutors Say Children Listed in Claims Were Fictitious
Pandemic changes expanded a federal child nutrition program beyond schools, allowing restaurants and other sites to distribute food and seek reimbursement.
Prosecutors said Said exploited that expansion through a sustained campaign of fraudulent claims.
“For 21 consecutive months, Said made thousands of fraudulent reimbursement claims, day after day, month after month,” prosecutors said.
“Each submission represented meals purportedly provided to underprivileged children, yet the listed children themselves were entirely fictitious.”
The government attributed $44 million in fraud to Said, including conduct by people he recruited.
“The defendant and his sites did not serve thousands of children; he served a calculated, lucrative lie,” prosecutors wrote.
Taxpayer Money Funded Home, Property, and Truck
The government said Said used proceeds to buy a $1.2 million home, commercial real estate, and an $87,000 pickup truck.