MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Five people were charged on Wednesday with attempting to bribe a juror in one of the country’s largest COVID-19-related fraud cases by offering a bag containing $120,000 in cash, as announced by the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the FBI on Wednesday.
The U.S. Attorney Andrew Luger described the bribe as a “chilling attack on our justice system,” shining a new spotlight on the trial of seven Minnesota defendants accused of collaborating to embezzle over $40 million from a federal program meant to provide meals for children during the pandemic. Authorities report that more than $250 million in federal funds were misappropriated, with only about $50 million recovered so far.
Abdiaziz Shafii Farah, Abdimajid Mohamed Nur, Said Shafii Farah, Abdulkarim Shafii Farah, and Ladan Mohamed Ali each face charges of conspiracy to bribe a juror, bribery of a juror, and corruptly influencing a juror, according to court documents.
Abdiaziz Shafii Farah also faces a charge of obstruction of justice.
Abdiaziz Shafii Farah and Abdimajid Mohamed Nur were among the five convicted in the trial earlier this month, while Said Shafii Farah was acquitted. Abdulkarim Shafii Farah and Ladan Mohamed Ali were not involved in the trial.
It was expected that at least three of them would make their initial court appearances on Wednesday afternoon.
According to an FBI agent’s affidavit, a woman appeared at the residence of “Juror #52” in Spring Lake Park, a Minneapolis suburb, the night before the case was to go to the jury. A family member answered the door and was presented with a gift bag adorned with a curly ribbon and images of flowers and butterflies. The woman claimed it was a “gift” for the juror.
“The woman instructed the family member to inform Juror #52 to vote not guilty the following day and promised more of the same gift. After the woman departed, the family member inspected the gift bag and discovered a significant amount of cash inside,” wrote the agent.
The juror notified the authorities immediately upon returning home and handed over the bag, which contained stacks of $100, $50, and $20 bills totaling around $120,000.
The woman who delivered the bag was aware of the juror’s first name, according to the agent. While the names of the jurors have not been disclosed, the individuals with access to the list included prosecutors, defense attorneys, and the seven defendants.
Following the juror’s report of the attempted bribe, the judge ordered all seven defendants to relinquish their cellphones for investigation purposes. A second juror who was informed about the bribe was also dismissed. The FBI conducted a thorough investigation into the attempted bribery for several weeks, carrying out raids at the homes of multiple defendants. A federal judge further ordered the detention of all seven defendants and sequestered the jury.
Seventy individuals have been indicted in federal court for their alleged involvement in the pandemic-related fraud scheme revolving around a nonprofit organization called Feeding Our Future. In addition to the five convictions in early June, eighteen other defendants have already pleaded guilty, while trials are pending for the remaining individuals.
Prosecutors assert that the conspiracy exploited lenient regulations to prevent an economic collapse during the pandemic. The FBI commenced investigations in the spring of 2021. The defendants purportedly generated false invoices for meals that were never served, operated shell companies, engaged in money laundering, committed passport fraud, and accepted kickbacks.
The funds originated from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and were managed by the state, which distributed the funds through various partners, including Feeding Our Future. An oversight report by the Minnesota Legislature revealed that the state education department had failed to adequately supervise the federal program, paving the way for the embezzlement.
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