An Ohio man accused of defrauding the U.S. government through his Minnesota-based nonprofit in the massive Feeding Our Future investigation has pleaded guilty; the 50th conviction in the sprawling pandemic-era fraud case.
Mahad Ibrahim, of Lewis Center, Ohio, pleaded guilty in July to one count of wire fraud and one count of money laundering in connection with Feeding Our Future case. As founder of ThinkTechAct Foundation that also operated as Mind Foundry Learning Foundation, Ibrahim, and several others implicated in the massive scheme, used the nonprofits to open a number of food distribution sites statewide. The group claimed to serve thousands of children a day and were reimbursed millions of dollars. The funds were instead used for other items and laundered by Ibrahim through another entity he controlled, MIB Holdings LLC, to buy real estate in Ohio.
Ibrahim partnered with Abdiaziz Farah, who jurors convicted last year during the first Feeding Our Future trial, and several others to orchestrate the scheme, though he “admittedly took deliberate steps to avoid learning the full scale of his conspirators’ activities,” said a press release by the U.S. Attorney’s Office. He was supposed to go on trial at that point as well but did not because his attorney was “unavailable.”
The federal fraud investigation, which has netted more than 70 defendants, surpassed its 50th conviction Friday after two defendants pleaded guilty to similar charges. Hibo Daar, 51, pleaded guilty to wire fraud in a Minneapolis federal courtroom after her arrest late May in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport. Daar oversaw Northside Wellness Center Corporation that, under the sponsorship of nonprofit Feeding Our Future, falsely claimed to serve thousands of children.
Hamdi Hussein Omar, 29, also pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud. Omar, of St. Paul, ran a food site sponsored by Feeding Our Future along with her co-conspirators that prosecutors allege received more than $1 million in reimbursements for serving more than 500,000 meals.
“This milestone marks an extraordinary achievement by our team and our law enforcement partners,” said acting U.S. Attorney Joe Thompson. “For years, these elite federal agents and forensic accountants have tracked stolen money, cut through layers of deceit, and exposed a sprawling network of shell companies and fake meal claims. Their pursuit of justice has been relentless. Because of their work, we’ve uncovered not just one scheme, but a far-reaching fraud crisis that’s swamping Minnesota. This is public service at its finest. And this team is nowhere near finished.”
