❓WHAT HAPPENED: Feeding Our Future, a nonprofit intended to feed low-income children in Minnesota, is accused of illegally diverting over $250 million in taxpayer funds for personal luxury purchases, according to federal prosecutors.

👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: The Minnesota Department of Education (MDE), former MDE leaders Brenda Cassellius and Mary Cathryn Ricker, fraudsters tied to Feeding Our Future, and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz (D).

📍WHEN & WHERE: The alleged fraud occurred between 2018 and 2021 in Minnesota, with key developments during the tenures of Cassellius and Ricker at MDE.

💬KEY QUOTE: “Many of MDE’s complaint investigation procedures and practices were inappropriate or of limited usefulness, particularly in the context of the alleged fraud. While MDE had written complaint investigation procedures, their limited scope and failure to address important issues undermined their ability to promote good investigative practices.” – Minnesota Legislative Auditor’s report.

🎯IMPACT: The alleged fraud highlights systemic failures in oversight, with MDE reportedly increasing payments to Feeding Our Future by 2,800 percent between 2020 and 2021.

Former heads of the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) are under scrutiny as new findings deepen the investigation into the alleged fraud surrounding Feeding Our Future (FOF), a Somali-run nonprofit that was ostensibly providing meals to low-income children. Prosecutors say FOF diverted more than $250 million in taxpayer funds to shell companies and individuals, many of whom used the money for real estate, luxury cars, and other lavish purchases, rather than meals for children.

A 20-page audit from Judy Randall and Katherine Theisen faulted MDE for failing to act on repeated warning signs before and after the pandemic. The report said MDE “did not effectively exercise its authority to hold Feeding Our Future accountable to program requirements,” and was “ill-prepared to respond to the issues it encountered.”

“Many of MDE’s complaint investigation procedures and practices were inappropriate or of limited usefulness, particularly in the context of the alleged fraud. While MDE had written complaint investigation procedures, their limited scope and failure to address important issues undermined their ability to promote good investigative practices,” the report said.

Under former Commissioner Brenda Cassellius, FOF received its initial approval and survived an administrative review in 2018. Her successor, Mary Cathryn Ricker, oversaw the department during the nonprofit’s explosive expansion; in 2020, MDE approved FOF’s summer-food-service application without re-verifying that FOF retained its nonprofit status, even though it had been revoked earlier that year by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

Despite receiving at least 30 complaints about FOF’s operations, MDE rarely intervened. In one instance, the department asked FOF to investigate complaints against itself. Meanwhile, FOF’s payments surged, increasing by 2,800 percent between fiscal year 2020 and 2021. The audit also detailed a case in which the nonprofit allegedly demanded a kickback from a vendor; when the vendor declined, their contract was cancelled.

FOF’s outreach and network were deeply rooted in Minnesota’s Somali-American community, which was allegedly shielded from investigation by Minnesota Governor and failed Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz.

Prosecutors have said that many of the companies receiving funds were owned or operated by Somalis. For instance, evidence presented in federal court shows that the nonprofit Somali Community Resettlement Services sponsored several meal-distribution sites in cities like Minneapolis and Faribault, which claimed to serve thousands of meals daily but, prosecutors say, were part of the fraud.

In one case, a site backed by Somali Community Resettlement Services claimed to serve 3,000 meals a day, and another claimed 2,000. That nonprofit was reimbursed about $2.9 million via a sponsoring intermediary, and paid the purported meal-serving entities roughly $1.83 million, keeping nearly $1.1 million itself.

Federal prosecutors—including Joseph Thompson—warn that the problem goes beyond FOF. They say similar fraud has already hit other state-backed programs, such as housing stabilization and autism services. “To be clear, this is not an isolated scheme,” Thompson said.

Image by Gage Skidmore.

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