Kenyan man indicted in the US for laundering over Ksh.5.1B through fraudulent feeding scheme

According to a report from the U.S Attorney's Office in Minnesota, Ahmednaji Maalim Aftin Sheikh, 28, played a crucial role in the Feeding Our Future fraud scheme, the biggest pandemic-era fraud in the country.

Millions of dollars were stolen in the scheme during the COVID-19 pandemic as persons made fraudulent reimbursement requests for meals they never served.

Acting U.S. Attorney Joseph H. Thompson said that Sheikh, the 74th suspect to be charged, helped hide millions of dollars abroad in Feeding Our Future fraud proceeds for his brother Abdiaziz Farah.

Farah, 36, was the lead defendant in the first Feeding Our Future trial in 2024. Jurors found that Farah and four of his six co-defendants laundered more than $40 million after enrolling a small restaurant in the food program under the sponsorship of another nonprofit.

This saw Farah receiving a 28-year prison sentence for his role in the scheme.

Attorney Joseph H. Thompson said that Sheikh received funds from Farah and helped in concealing the nature, location, source, ownership, and control of the proceeds by investing them in Kenyan real estate through a series of sham corporate entities and bulk cash smuggling.

The monies were founds to have been used in the purchase of a 20 percent stake in a Kenyan real estate company.

"For example, in April 2021, Abdiaziz Farah purchased an apartment building in the South C neighborhood of Nairobi, located adjacent to Nairobi National Park. Defendant Sheikh also helped Abdiaziz Farah use proceeds to purchase land in Mandera Town, a city located in Kenya, on the border with Somalia and Ethiopia," read the report in part.

Evidence presented in the trial also showed that the two brothers regularly exchanged text message about their ill-gotten wealth.

One example dates back to July 3, 2021, when Farah texted Sheikh, “You are gonna be the richest 25-year-old, InshaAllah.” Sheikh responded, “I love you so much.”

They also shared photos of money sent from the U.S to Kenya among them one from Sheikh that confirmed receipt of $138,000 on August 29, 2021, $270,000 on December 9, 2021, $300,000 in December 16, 2021.

Farah reported that the transfer purpose was “family support” and the source of the income was his “salary.”

On December 27, 2021, Sheikh sent a text message explaining that he had received $1,287,000 from Farah in the prior days.

Farah also purchased a townhome in Burnsville, Minnesota for $575,000 using the proceeds of his fraud scheme.

In a deeper controversial twist, Sheikh was also found to have ties to the sister of Farah's wife, who worked at one of the companies that sponsored the fraudulent participation in the federal child nutrition program.

The unidentified sister filed a petition seeking to sponsor Sheikh’s immigration to and permanent residency in the United States. On the petition, she identified Sheikh as her husband.

On November 7, 2024, Sheikh applied to enter the 2026 Diversity Immigrant Visa lottery. On his application, however, Sheikh stated that he was unmarried.

Individual S.D. is Abdiaziz Farah’s sister-in-law; she is the sister of Abdiaziz Farah’s wife. Individual S.D. is a naturalized U.S. citizen who lives in Minnesota.

The prosecution of the case is ongoing, as the seizure and forfeiture of the ill-secured assets takes course.