Former Ilhan Omar associate pleads guilty in pandemic food fraud scheme

A former associate of Democratic Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar pleaded guilty to participating in a pandemic food fraud scheme, according to U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Minnesota.

Guhaad Hashi Said, 49, a one-time “enforcer” for Omar’s campaign, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering in a fraud scheme that exploited a federally funded child nutrition program during the COVID-19 pandemic, Alpha News reported.

“The conviction of the 52nd defendant in the Feeding our Future case is yet another reminder of the vast reach of this fraud and the scale of the crisis we face in Minnesota,” acting U.S. Attorney Joseph H. Thompson said in a statement.

“These crimes are not isolated events. They are part of a web of schemes targeting programs that are intended to lift up Minnesotans and bleeding them dry," he added. "From where I sit, the scale of the fraud in Minnesota is staggering, and every rock we turn over reveals more. We must be honest and clear-eyed about the scope of this problem, because ending it will take an unyielding, all-hands-on-deck effort from all of us.”

From December 2020 through January 2022, Said participated in a fraudulent scheme to obtain millions of dollars in Federal Child Nutrition Program funds that were intended as reimbursements for the cost of serving meals to underprivileged children, according to court documents.

He claimed to operate a Federal Child Nutrition Program site under the name Advance Youth Athletic Development, which he incorporated on February 26, 2021, and listed its registered office at a residential apartment unit in the Central Avenue Lofts in Minneapolis.

Starting in March 2021, Said and the Advance Youth Athletic Development site submitted meal count sheets claiming to have served 5,000 meals a day to children. From about March to December 2021, Said and the Advance Youth Athletic Development submitted claims for serving more than 1 million meals. However, Said only served a fraction of the meals for which he claimed and received reimbursements. He prepared and submitted fraudulent meal counts, attendance rosters, and invoices to support his claims.

Said also participated in a money laundering conspiracy from August 2020 through 2022, according to the Justice Department. The conspiracy's purpose was to conceal, hide, and launder the proceeds of the fraudulent scheme to obtain Federal Child Nutrition Program funds.

Said and other conspirators started nonprofits and limited liability companies to hide the source and ownership of proceeds of the fraudulent scheme to obtain Federal Child Nutrition Program funds. They took the laundered proceeds and used their shell companies to purchase real estate, cars, and other personal items.

Around April 1, 2021, Said opened a bank account for Advance Youth Athletic Development, and between August and December 2021, he transferred more than $2.1 million from Advance Youth Athletic Development bank accounts to S & S Catering. The payments were purportedly for providing meals and food for Advance Youth Athletic Development to serve to children.

Said and his co-conspirators received approximately $2,906,740 in Federal Child Nutrition Program funds from the scheme.

He will be sentenced at a later date and faces up to 25 years in prison.

Said announced himself as a candidate for the Minnesota House of Representatives, for the 62A district, in 2018.