A Shakopee-based nonprofit linked to the massive Feeding Our Future food aid fraud case has agreed to dissolve amid an investigation by the Minnesota attorney general, according to recent filings in Scott County District Court.

Attorney General Keith Ellison launched its probe of Shamsia Hopes after a federal grand jury in 2022 indicted Mekfira Hussein, its founder and president, and her husband on charges including conspiracy to commit wire fraud as part of a scheme prosecutors say stole $250 million from a federal child nutrition program during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic.

According to state and federal court records, Hussein agreed to dissolve her nonprofit in Scott County a day before she and her husband, Abduljabar Hussein, pleaded not guilty in their federal criminal case.

“Minnesota nonprofit corporations are obligated by law to spend money on their mission alone, not to enrich their founders or the founders’ families,” Ellison said in a statement Tuesday. “Illegal activity like this risks eroding Minnesotans’ faith in our non-profits, which would be a genuine shame given the important work non-profits do across our state every single day. Shamsia Hopes’ misuse of charitable assets is as disappointing as it is unacceptable, and I am glad to be shutting them down.”

A message was left seeking comment from Hussein’s attorney.

Ellison’s office found that Shamsia Hopes ignored governance requirements that resulted in the misuse of assets by Hussein. The probe found that Hussein ran Shamsia Hopes “almost completely by herself” despite a state law requiring that nonprofit corporations be managed by a board of directors. Instead, she controlled Shamsia Hopes’ finances with hardly any oversight and acted as its president, secretary, treasurer and director despite being indicted in November 2022.

Ellison’s office said Hussein used nonprofit assets on a $93,250 Porsche and to pay off her and her husband’s $173,438 mortgage. They also found that she steered at least $5.4 million to Oromia Feeds LLC, a company set up by her husband – who was a vice president of Shamsia Hopes from 2015 to 2020. Oromia Feeds claimed to provide food to children at Shamsia Hopes’ sites in Brooklyn Park, Brooklyn Center, Minneapolis, and Fridley. According to the federal charges, a scant amount of the money routed to Oromia Feeds was actually spent on food despite claims by Shamsia Hopes that it served 5,000 meals to children seven days a week.

The agreement to dissolve still needs approval from a judge in Scott County. Under the agreement, Ellison’s office could still elect to bring claims against Hussein or anyone else. Shamsia Hopes would stop accepting donations and begin the dissolution process within 60 days of a judge’s approval.

The Ramsey County Board on Tuesday approved a $75,000 settlement in a wrongful death lawsuit brought by the family of Abigail Simpson, who was stabbed to death by her boyfriend in 2020.

The lawsuit alleged that the county and others failed to monitor Terrion Sherman, who had been treated for his mental illness, before he killed Simpson.

Ramsey County spokesperson Casper Hill declined to comment on the lawsuit, saying the county does not comment on pending, ongoing or settled litigation.

According to criminal charges against Sherman, St. Paul officers found 21-year-old Simpson dead from multiple stab wounds inside of her apartment on the 300 block of N. Pierce Street on February 26, 2020. Sherman, then 23, stood in the living room covered in blood as police arrived. They arrested and charged Sherman, who stated that his 2-year-old nephew “became possessed by a dog and told Sherman that [Simpson] was really a guy.”

The complaint said Sherman also said he is prescribed medication, but “does not need them, because he is not crazy.”

He was convicted for second-degree murder in October and sentenced to 40 years in prison.

The lawsuit filed by Simpson’s parents alleges that Sherman, whose previous charges include assault and aggravated robbery, was deemed mentally ill and chemically dependent before being committed to the Anoka Metro Regional Treatment Center in 2018. Minnesota’s Department of Human Services provisionally discharge Sherman in 2019 to the care of Joyful Home Health Care in Fridley, and Ramsey County was responsible for Sherman’s discharge plan.

But between July of 2019 and the day he killed Simpson, Joyful Home officials reported that Sherman missed 76 days of medication meant to treat his schizophrenia, substance abuse disorder, psychosis and depression, according to the lawsuit.

Top Democrats called for GOP state Rep. Jeff Dotseth to end his re-election campaign on Tuesday in response to a Star Tribune report that detailed past allegations of domestic abuse.

They also called on House Minority Leader Lisa Demuth, R-Cold Spring, to expel Dotseth from the House GOP Caucus.

Dotseth, a first-term lawmaker from Kettle River, was arrested in 2008 after his then-wife called police to report he’d assaulted her, according to court documents first reported by the Star Tribune on Monday. He was initially charged with misdemeanor domestic assault but pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of disorderly conduct several months later. A judge granted a yearlong order for protection barring Dotseth from contacting his then-wife and using or possessing firearms, and he was only allowed to have supervised visits with the 9-year-old daughter they shared.

“What we’ve learned about Rep. Dotseth’s past is beyond concerning,” House Majority Leader Jamie Long, DFL-Minneapolis, said at a news conference at the State Capitol. “Dotseth’s behavior, whether it was yesterday or years ago, is unacceptable and not fitting for an elected representative of our state.”

After Dotseth’s arrest, his then-wife, Penny Dotseth, filed a sworn affidavit along with her petition for divorce alleging Dotseth abused her repeatedly over the course of a decade of living together. Her adult son also filed an affidavit alleging Dotseth abused him when he was a child. They both said Dotseth punched, kicked, slapped and choked them over the years.

Dotseth denied the abuse allegations in his own 2008 divorce affidavit and again in a statement to the Star Tribune last week: “More than 15 years ago I went through an extremely difficult divorce and child custody dispute. There were hurtful allegations made against me that I deny, including a sworn affidavit I filed under oath under penalty of perjury,” he said in the statement.

Dotseth didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday.

Demuth, who leads the House GOP Caucus, said in a statement last week that “domestic violence is an absolute red line for me — it’s never acceptable under any circumstances.” But, she said, “this case was resolved through the legal process more than 15 years ago, concluding with no charge or conviction for domestic assault.”