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The FBI captured Abdikerm Abdelahi Eidleh, a 42-year-old resident of Burnsville, Minnesota, on Thursday in Mogadishu. He is one of the main architects of the fraud known as "Feeding Our Future", which is considered the largest pandemic fraud scandal in U.S. history, with more than 250 million dollars diverted from federal funds intended for child nutrition.
Eidleh had fled to Somalia after being formally charged in September 2022, along with 46 other defendants, in a case that includes 31 counts of conspiracy to commit electronic fraud, bribery of federal programs, and money laundering.
His arrest was made possible thanks to the cooperation between the FBI and the National Intelligence and Security Agency of Somalia.
According to court documents, Eidleh worked as an employee of the nonprofit organization Feeding Our Future and was responsible for recruiting sites for the Federal Child Nutrition Program.
From that position, he solicited and received bribes from operators seeking approval to manage fictitious food centers, in a "pay-to-participate" scheme where the fraud was disguised as "consulting fees" funneled through shell companies.
Furthermore, Eidleh created her own fraudulent sites under the names of nominal owners, falsely claiming that they provided meals to thousands of children each day, and fabricated invoices to claim federal reimbursements for services that never existed.
He deposited over 5 million dollars in accounts linked to those fictitious companies to conceal the illicit origin of the money.
The FBI director, Kash Patel, described Eidleh as "the alleged ringleader of one of the largest fraud scandals in the country's history" and noted that "he spent the money on luxury cars and mansions, a complete disgrace."
Patel confirmed that to date the FBI has arrested over 70 people connected to the case.
The Assistant Attorney General Colin M. McDonald, from the National Fraud Enforcement Division of the Department of Justice, was clear: “He not only stole money from taxpayers, but also deprived vulnerable children of critical resources they desperately needed."
"Instead of facing charges for his crimes in the United States, he fled to Somalia in a futile attempt to evade justice."
The scheme was developed during the COVID-19 pandemic, when the Department of Agriculture relaxed the regulations of the child nutrition program so that non-school organizations could feed low-income children while schools remained closed.
The organization Feeding Our Future, founded by Aimee Bock, exploited those lax rules and managed 200 million dollars in 2021, 59 times more than the 3.4 million it managed in 2019.
Bock, identified as the "mastermind" of the fraud, was sentenced on May 21, 2026, to nearly 42 years in prison and ordered to pay over 242 million dollars in restitution.
In total, at least 92 people have been accused in the case, and approximately 57 have been convicted, although only about 50 million of the more than 250 million defrauded has been recovered.
The federal prosecutor Daniel N. Rosen warned that the capture of Eidleh sends a clear message: "If you commit fraud against the American taxpayer and try to hide in any corner of the world, the long arm of justice will find you."
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