Star Tribune
Nonprofit tied to Feeding Our Future fraud case closes amid MN AG probe
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.
LAFAYETTE, Wis. — About 25 children and adults were injured Wednesday when a wagon carrying them overturned at a western Wisconsin apple orchard.
The children, parents and chaperones were on a field trip to the orchard in Lafayette when one of two wagons being pulled by a tractor turned sideways and rolled over, Chippewa County Sheriff Travis Hakes told reporters. Hakes said the tractor was traveling at a low speed when the wagon rolled over while going downhill.
Three people suffered critical injuries, while injuries to five others were considered serious. Authorities didn’t say how many of the injured were children.
The elementary school-age children attend a school in Eau Claire. Lafayette is northeast of Eau Claire.
After about five minutes and several warnings that students participating in the protest would be suspended,, the protesters exited Northrop and Cunningham continued her speech. They later gathered outside on the mall afterwards to shout, “Cunningham, you will see, Palestine will be free.”
Cunningham recounted the story of Norman Borlaug, the U alumnus and agronomist whose research in wheat saved millions from starvation, and said she would prioritize keeping a college education affordable for students.
Cunningham actually took over presidential duties on July 1, replacing Interim President Jeff Ettinger. She oversees a budget of more than $4 billion to run the university’s five campuses, which enrolled more than 68,000 students and employed 27,000 people during the last academic year.
She was chosen for the job last winter over two other candidates: Laura Bloomberg, president of Cleveland State University and former dean of the U’s Humphrey School of Public Affairs, and James Holloway, provost and executive vice president for academic affairs at the University of New Mexico. She is the U’s second woman president, following Joan Gabel who held the office from 2019 to 2023.
Cunningham will be paid more than $1 million per year — about $975,000 in base pay and an additional $120,000 in retirement contributions. The compensation puts her in the top quarter of Big Ten university presidents.
Sgt. Gordon Blackey, once a security guard to Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, allegedly admitted to tracking the woman’s movements in her vehicle, according to a criminal complaint.
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