Star Tribune
Minneapolis woman pleads guilty for role in Feeding Our Future scheme
A Minneapolis woman pleaded guilty on Friday to wire fraud for her role in the Feeding Our Future scheme, and admitted to running a business that stole millions from the government by falsely inflating the number of meals it claimed to serve to children.
Khadra Abdi, 42, admitted in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis that she stole more than $3.4 million in fraud money from the federal government as part of the Feeding Our Future scheme between 2020 and 2022. As part of her plea agreement, Abdi’s other charges related to wire fraud and money laundering will be dismissed at sentencing.
Abdi operated a Hopkins-based business called Shafi’s Tutoring and Homework Help Center, which was created prior to the pandemic and the Feeding Our Future scheme. In April 2020 Abdi signed a contract with Aimee Bock, the executive director of Feeding Our Future, for Shafi’s Tutoring to serve as a site to feed low-income children under the Federal Child Nutrition Program.
The tutoring business claimed to have served 1.1 million meals to children, federal charges say. Instead, only a “small fraction” of those reported meals were served, and the business falsely-inflated its meal number reports, prosecutors said.
Abdi gave some of the $3.4 million in fraud money to other members of the scheme, and used at least $202,000 to pay herself, charges say. Some of the funds allegedly went to personal spending for credit card and loan payments, cable TV, clothing and nail salon services.
Abdi admitted that she purchased two vehicles partially with fraud money. She agreed to forfeit properties and vehicles she bought with fraud money, and she is required to pay back the $3.4 million she received as restitution.
Asked by U.S. Assistant Attorney Matthew Ebert if her co-defendant Abdulkadir Awale operated as a fraudulent food vendor who did not provide food to Shafi’s Tutoring as reported on invoices, Abdi initially pushed back.
“Food was served at the site,” Abdi said through a Somali interpreter. “I cannot speak to the invoices.”
The YMCA of the North has laid off 69 employees as the nonprofit continues to struggle financially due to inflation, rising expenses and changing consumer behaviors.
Leaders at the Y, formerly the YMCA of the Greater Twin Cities, confirmed Friday that 59 full-time employees and about 10 part-timers were laid off the first week of September, making up about 1.8% of its workforce.
“This included every aspect of the Y,” said Michelle Edgerton, the Y’s executive vice president of advancement. “It’s a sad moment at the Y, because … our team members are impacted. At the same time, we are looking at what is necessary for us to remain present in our community as long as our community needs us.”
The Y is one of the largest nonprofits in Minnesota and the third-largest YMCA in the U.S. The organization has reported deficits every year since 2020, when it shuttered its gyms due to the COVID-19 outbreak and lost thousands of memberships.
In 2020, the organization had 82,000 members; that number had fallen to 54,000 members in 2024, although numbers are increasing now, Edgerton said. Before the latest layoffs, the organization had 3,900 employees, down from 6,700 workers in 2020.
The Y, which had a budget of about $160 million this year and last year, ran a deficit of $10 million in 2023 and anticipates having a $6 million deficit this year, Edgerton said.
According to its tax filings, the organization had a $10 million deficit in 2022, up from a $7.6 million shortfall in 2021 and a $2.5 million deficit in 2020. Edgerton said the Y is on track to break even in 2025.
The YMCA isn’t the only nonprofit confronting difficult finances. A new survey released Thursday showed that nearly 80% of Minnesota nonprofits have less than 12 months before they face financial distress, the highest number of organizations struggling financially since the summer of 2020.
Minnesotans affected by this year’s flooding will have additional time to apply for federal aid.
The deadline has been moved back to Oct. 27 to apply for individual assistance grants from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, a statement from the agency said Friday afternoon. The grants are meant to help Minnesotans financially recovering from the flooding that swamped parts of northeast and southern Minnesota in June and July.
Minnesotan flood survivors can also apply for low-interest loans from the U.S. Small Business Administration. Disaster loans up to $500,000 are available to homeowners to repair or replace disaster-damaged or destroyed real estate, a recent statement from the agency said. Homeowners and renters can also apply for a loan of up to $100,000 to repair or replace damaged or destroyed personal property.
The deadline for SBA loans for physical property damage is Sept. 30, and Minnesotans are encouraged to apply for FEMA grants and the SBA low-interest disaster loan assistance at the same time.
“Our purpose is to provide exceptional airport experiences so Minnesota thrives, and this prestigious recognition demonstrates that we are delivering for our travelers,” Brian Ryks, CEO and executive director of the Metropolitan Airports Commission (MAC), which owns and operates MSP, said in a statement. “This award also acknowledges the work and focus of all airport employees and our partners who ensure our airport facilities, services and hospitality are maintained at the highest levels and exceed travelers’ expectations.”
As a frequent flier who relies on MSP to do my 9-to-5 job and all the travel it demands, I’m pleased.
I’m a Wisconsin native who lacks the emotional ties to the highs and lows within the Minnesota sports scene. I don’t have stories about going to the Minnesota State Fair as a kid. And I’m also a transplant who always feels like a hypocrite whenever I talk about Prince (I was into “Thriller” more than “Purple Rain” in the 1980s).
But the airport? My pride in that facility is probably my most Minnesotan quality.
I’ve visited more than 75 American airports as a fulltime sportswriter for a national outlet. And when you spend that much time on the road, you learn to appreciate — and resent — some of the characteristics at each stop.
