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CASE 0:22-cr-00223-NEB-DTS Doc. 515 Filed 02/19/25 Page 1 of 9
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
DISTRICT OF MINNESOTA
Criminal No. 22-223(10) (NEB/DTS)
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, )
)
Plaintiff, )
) FILED UNDER SEAL
v. )
)
ABDINASIR ABSHIR, ) GOVERNMENT’S MOTION TO
) REVOKE PRETRIAL RELEASE
Defendant. )
)
The United States of America, by and through its attorneys, Lisa D.
Kirkpatrick, Acting United States Attorney for the District of Minnesota, and Joseph
H. Thompson, Harry M. Jacobs, Matthew S. Ebert, and Daniel W. Bobier, Assistant
United States Attorneys, hereby moves to revoke defendant’s pretrial release,
pursuant to 18 U.S.C. §§ 3142 and 3148, for violation of the Court’s Order Setting
Conditions of Release dated September 20, 2022. Dkt. #67. Pursuant to 18 U.S.C.
§ 3148(b), the United States respectfully requests that the Court revoke defendant’s
pretrial release and issue an arrest warrant.
I. BACKGROUND
A. Defendant’s Fraud Scheme
Defendant Abdinasir Abshir and his co-defendants orchestrated and carried
out a scheme that defrauded the Federal Child Nutrition Program, a government aid
program designed to provide free meals to children in need. The defendants exploited
the Covid-19 pandemic to obtain, misappropriate, and launder tens of millions of
dollars in program funds that were intended as reimbursements for the cost of serving
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meals and food to children. In all, the defendants fraudulently misappropriated more
than $45 million in Federal Child Nutrition Program funds.
As part of their scheme, the defendants created dozens of Federal Child
Nutrition Program sites throughout the State of Minnesota, which operated under
the sponsorship of Feeding Our Future. The defendants collectively claimed to be
serving meals to thousands of children each day throughout the State of Minnesota,
for which they fraudulently claimed and received millions of dollars in Federal Child
Nutrition Program funds.
In April 2020, during the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Safari
Restaurant, a small restaurant on Lake Street in Minneapolis, opened a Federal
Child Nutrition Program site under the sponsorship of Feeding Our Future. By July
2020, Safari Restaurant claimed to be serving meals to 5,000 children a day, seven
days a week. Eventually, Safari Restaurant claimed to be serving 6,000 children a
day. In all, the defendants claimed to have served more than 3.9 million meals to
children at the Safari Restaurant site between April 2020 and November 2021.
Safari Restaurant also operated as a vendor purporting to deliver food and
meals to Federal Child Nutrition Program sites created by co-conspirators
throughout the state of Minnesota, including at a site known as ASA Limited in
St. Paul. In September 2020, just three weeks after the company was registered with
the Secretary of State, the defendants claimed that the ASA Limited site served
breakfast and lunch to 3,000 children a day, seven days a week. Based on these false
claims, the co-conspirators received approximately $5 million in Federal Child
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Nutrition Program reimbursements for meals purportedly served at the ASA Limited
site.
Across all the different sites, the defendants claimed that Safari Restaurant
provided more than 2.2 million meals to other Federal Child Nutrition Program sites
involved in the scheme. In all, Safari Restaurant received more than $16 million in
Federal Child Nutrition Program funds in 2020 and 2021. The owners of Safari
Restaurant—defendants Salim Said and Abdulkadir Salah—sent much of this money
to their co-conspirators via shell companies created and used to receive and launder
the proceeds of the fraudulent scheme.
By October 2020, MDE became concerned about the drastic increase in meal
claims by sites under the sponsorship of Feeding Our Future. Due to these concerns,
MDE announced that the Federal Child Nutrition Program no longer allowed
restaurants and other for-profit companies to enroll as sites. MDE explained that
restaurants would only be allowed to participate as meal vendors providing food.
MDE further announced that any restaurants enrolled as distribution sites would be
closed as of October 31, 2020.
Shortly after MDE disallowed for-profit restaurants, the defendants obtained
a non-profit entity, Stigma Free International, for use in carrying out the fraud. They
immediately used their new non-profit to open a number of new Federal Child
Nutrition Program sites. Other co-conspirators created additional shell companies to
serve as for-profit meal vendor companies purporting to provide the meals to be
served to children at these sites. Together, the defendants claimed to be serving meals
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to tens of thousands of children each day throughout the state of Minnesota, for which
they fraudulently claimed and received millions of dollars in Federal Child Nutrition
Program funds.
1. The Stigma-Free Willmar Site
Two co-defendants, Ahmed Artan and Abdikadir Mohamud, opened a site
under the sponsorship of Feeding Our Future in October 2020 called Stigma-Free
Willmar. The site operated out of a small storefront restaurant in downtown Willmar
called FaaFan and claimed to serve meals to up to 3,000 children a day, seven days a
week. Another co-defendant, Abdikadir Mohamud, created a shell company called
Tunyar Trading that purported to be a meal vendor providing meals to be served at
the Stigma-Free Willmar site. Between November 2020 to November 2021, these co-
conspirators falsely claimed to have served approximately 1.6 million meals at the
Stigma-Free Willmar site. The co-conspirators received more than $5 million in
Federal Child Nutrition Program funds based on these claims.
2. The Stigma-Free Mankato Site
Two other defendants, brothers Abdinasir Abshir and Asad Abshir, opened
another site in October 2020 called Stigma Free Mankato. The site purported to serve
meals to 3,000 children a day, seven days a week out of a small restaurant in North
Mankato called J’s Sambusa. The Abshirs created a shell company called Horseed
Management that purported to serve as a meal vendor providing meals to be served
at the site. Between November 2020 to November 2021, the Abshirs and their co-
conspirators claimed to have served more than 1.6 million meals at the Stigma-Free
Mankato site. Based on these claims, they received approximately $5 million in
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Federal Child Nutrition Program funds. Abdinasir Abshir then transferred millions
of dollars from Horseed Management to himself and other co-conspirators, including
Said.
B. The Indictment
On September 13, 2022, a grand jury returned a 61-count indictment charging
14 defendants—Aimee Bock, Abdikerm Eidleh, Salim Said, Abdulkadir Salah,
Ahmed Omar-Hashim, Abdi Salah, Abdihakim Ahmed, Ahmed Artan, Abdikadir
Mohamud, Abdinasir Abshir, Asad Mohamed Abshir, Hamdi Omar, Ahmed Ghedi,
and Abdirahman Ahmed—with a number of crimes, including: conspiracy to commit
wire fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 371 and 1343; wire fraud, in violation of 18
U.S.C. § 1343; conspiracy to commit federal programs bribery, in violation of 18
U.S.C. §§ 371 and 666; federal programs bribery, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 666;
conspiracy to commit concealment money laundering, in violation of 18 U.S.C.
§ 1956(a) and (h); and money laundering, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1957.
C. Defendant Abshir’s Attempt to Intimidate a Cooperating
Defendant
On February 10, 2025, trial commenced against defendants Aimee Bock and
Salim Said. Abdinasir Abshir and other defendants were scheduled to be tried at a
later date.
On February 18, 2025, the government presented testimony from Postal
Inspector John Western. During the morning session, Inspector Western testified
about the Stigma Free Willmar site. Just prior to the lunch break, the government
explained that Inspector Western would testify about the Stigma Free Mankato site
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after lunch. The Stigma Free Mankato site was run by defendant Abdinasir Abshir.
The government informed defense counsel that Inspector Western’s testimony would
likely last another hour, after which the government planned to call a cooperating
defendant.1
After the lunch break, defendant Abdinasir Abshir and another man entered
the courtroom loudly. Based on the timing of Abshir’s arrival in court, it appeared as
though someone informed him of the testimony related to his fraudulent food site.
Although the gallery was not crowded, they sat in the front row on the far side of the
courtroom closest to the jury box. After sitting down, Abshir and the other man were
disruptive and making noise. At one point, a court security officer appeared to ask
one of the men to leave. Both men then left the courtroom.
During the afternoon break, the attorney representing the cooperating
defendant informed the government that one of the two men—later determined to be
Abshir—had approached his client in the hallway. The cooperating defendant was
sitting on the bench outside the courtroom waiting to testify. Abshir approached the
cooperating defendant. The cooperating defendant recognized Abshir from his prior
interactions in the course of the fraud scheme, but could not recall his name. The
cooperating defendant assumed—incorrectly—that Abshir was also waiting to testify
as a trial witness. The cooperating defendant told Abshir that he was testifying.
Abshir then asked the cooperating defendant to step into the bathroom with him so
1 The government had previously informed defense counsel of the name of the
cooperating defendant scheduled to testify.
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they could talk. The cooperating defendant said that he felt intimidated and
understood that Abshir was trying to intimidate him. The cooperating defendant
declined to enter the bathroom and returned to the witness room with his lawyer.
Later that day, the cooperating defendant confirmed that a photograph of Abshir
pictured the man who had approached him and tried to intimidate him.
According to the cooperating defendant’s attorney, after this interaction,
Abshir and his associate sat at the far end of the hallway staring at the cooperating
defendant and his lawyer as they sat outside the courtroom. At least one of them
appeared to be vaping.
II. ABSHIR’S BOND SHOULD BE REVOKED
Under 18 U.S.C. § 3148, a person who has been released pursuant to 18 U.S.C.
§ 3142, and who has violated a condition of his release, is subject to a revocation of
release and order of detention. 18 U.S.C. § 3148(a). The Court may issue a warrant
for the arrest of a defendant charged with violating a condition of release. Id.
The Court “shall enter an order of revocation and detention if, after a hearing,
the judicial officer finds . . .” either “probable cause to believe that the person has
committed a Federal, State, or local crime while on release”; or “clear and convincing
evidence that the person has violated any other condition of release”; and either:
(1) “. . . there is no condition or combination of conditions of release
that will assure the person will not flee or pose a danger to the safety of
any other person or the community;” or
(2) “the person is unlikely to abide by any condition or combination
of conditions of release.”
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18 U.S.C. § 3148. Furthermore, if there is probable cause that the defendant
committed a felony offense, “a rebuttable presumption arises that no condition or
combination of conditions will assure that the person will not pose a danger to the
safety of any other person or the community.” Id.
Based on the information detailed above, there is probable cause to believe
Abshir has committed another felony offense while on release by attempting to
intimidate a government witness and cooperating inside of the courthouse shortly
before his testimony was scheduled to begin. In doing so, Abshir also violated the
conditions of his release, which expressly ordered that he “avoid all contact, directly
or indirectly, with any person who is or may be a victim or witness in the investigation
or prosecution, including co-defendants/co-conspirators under this and all related
cases.” Dkt. #67 ¶7(g).
Based on Abshir’s attempt to tamper with and intimidate a government
witness, there are no conditions of release that will secure the safety of the
community if he is allowed to remain on release. See 18 U.S.C. § 3148(b)(2)(A). Abshir
has also demonstrated that he is unlikely to abide by any condition or combination of
conditions of release that this Court could fashion. See 18 U.S.C. § 3148(b)(2)(B).
Abshir attempted to intimidate a government witness and cooperating defendant
inside of the federal courthouse—mere feet from the sitting federal judge as she
presided over the trial of his co-defendants. Abshir’s conduct shows a disregard for
the Court’s Order setting terms of pretrial release, and a likelihood that, unless he is
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detained through trial, he will continue to pose a threat of the integrity of the current
proceedings.
III. CONCLUSION
For the foregoing reasons, the government respectfully requests that the Court
revoke defendant’s pretrial release and issue a warrant for his arrest.
Dated: February 19, 2025
Respectfully submitted,
LISA D. KIRKPATRICK
Acting United States Attorney
BY: /s/ Joseph H. Thompson
JOSEPH H. THOMPSON
HARRY M. JACOBS
MATTHEW S. EBERT
DANIEL W. BOBIER
Assistant U.S. Attorneys
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