(Joshua Paladino, Headline USA) The FBI has accused a Minneapolis-based non-profit organization of funneling nearly $200 million in COVID-19 relief funds to local businesses, including one that paid thousands to Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn.
Congress paid Feeding Our Future—a group claiming a mission to “end childhood hunger in Minnesota”—$197.9 million to feed hungry children in Minneapolis.
When the FBI executed a search warrant at FOF’s headquarters, they found evidence that perhaps none of the organization’s funds bought food for children in need.
Rather, FOF gave the funds to local businesses, which fabricated records about the money’s purpose and then redirected it into private bank accounts.
One company, Safari Restaurant, received $15 million and the owners falsely claimed that they used the money to feed 5,000 children per day from May to November 2020. That is more children than the public school system in the state’s capitol, Saint Paul, feeds each day.
Safari has donated $4,700 to Ilhan Omar’s campaign this election cycle.
The FBI learned that six men who aided FOF and Safari’s fraud contributed to Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey’s campaign. Two of these men own Safari Restaurant.
Video shows Omar’s supporters celebrating at her 2018 victory party that Safari Restaurant hosted.
.@IlhanMN supporters chant and dance on stage as results continue to trickle in. The state representative’s #MNPrimary event is at Safari Restaurant in south Minneapolis. pic.twitter.com/4t8EPkN4VB
— Katie Galioto (@katiegalioto) August 15, 2018
Safari channeled the $15 million into several shell companies that bought not food for children but luxury items, including an $87,000 truck, a home in Plymouth costing $1 million, and a mansion in Minneapolis costing $2.8 million.
Feeding Our Future, Safari Restaurant, and the various shell companies are owned by “members of the East African diaspora,” including Somalis.
Aimee Bock, Feeding Our Future’s Founder and Executive Director, dismissed the FBI’s claims.
“I believe that this is an attack on a community,” she said.
