SAVAGE, MINN. — Ayan Farah Abukar, 43, of Savage, Minnesota, pleaded guilty today for her involvement in a multi-million-dollar fraud scheme that exploited a federally funded child nutrition program designed to provide meals for underserved children during the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Minnesota, Abukar, who served as the founder and executive director of the nonprofit Action for East African People, participated in a scheme that misappropriated millions of dollars allocated to the Federal Child Nutrition Program. Instead of using the funds to feed children, Abukar and her co-conspirators diverted the money for personal enrichment.
Court documents reveal that Abukar’s nonprofit was enrolled in the Federal Child Nutrition Program with the sponsorship of Feeding Our Future and Sponsor A. Between October 2020 and 2022, Abukar falsely claimed to have served up to 5,000 children daily at various sites in Bloomington, Minneapolis, Savage, and St. Paul.
In total, Abukar fraudulently obtained approximately $5.7 million in program funds, the U.S. Attorney’s Office confirmed. Additionally, Abukar paid over $330,000 in kickbacks to a Feeding Our Future employee as part of the fraudulent scheme.
Instead of using the program funds for their intended purpose, Abukar diverted the money to buy millions of dollars in real estate, including a 37-acre commercial property in Lakeville, Minnesota, and spent hundreds of thousands of dollars purchasing an aircraft in Nairobi, Kenya.
Abukar’s guilty plea marks a significant step in addressing the abuse of pandemic-related relief programs, with the U.S. Attorney’s Office emphasizing that these programs were intended to help vulnerable children during an unprecedented health crisis.
