A Kenyan man has been indicted on federal charges alleging he helped his brother launder millions in proceeds obtained by defrauding a U.S. child nutrition program as part of the largest COVID-19 fraud scheme in the country.
Ahmednaji Maalim Aftin Sheikh, 28, faces one count of conspiracy to commit international money laundering after federal prosecutors say he helped his brother Abdiaziz Farah launder and hide his fraud proceeds overseas. Sheikh, who resides in Kenya, is not in federal custody.
Farah, who was sentenced in August to 28 years in prison for his crimes related to the fraud investigation, is said to have received $40 million among his co-conspirators.
According to the indictment, Farah sent millions of dollars abroad, including to Sheikh, who concealed the nature of the funds by investing them in Kenyan real estate through sham corporate entities. One of the properties included an apartment building in Nairobi purchased in April 2021.
“You are gonna be the richest 25 year old InshaAllah,” Farah allegedly texted Sheikh roughly three months later.
Text exchanges between the brothers show photos of wads of cash and confirmation that they had received payments — one totaling more than $1.2 million. Farah reported one $300,000 money transfer as “family support” and the source of the income as his salary. During Farah’s sentencing hearing last month, prosecutors confirmed the money sent to Kenya can never be recovered.
“I share the outrage of my fellow Minnesotans at seeing money meant to feed hungry children converted into fortunes half a world away,” said acting U.S. Attorney Joe Thompson. “Sheikh’s indictment shows yet again what we are up against. It is another window into the many fraud schemes that have seeped into every corner of our state. But we cannot shrink from confronting this crisis.”
Sheikh is the 74th person charged in the massive federal fraud investigation that’s come to be known as the Feeding Our Future case — referring to the nonprofit prosecutors say is at the heart of the mammoth $250 million fraud plot. Feeding Our Future’s former CEO, Aimee Bock, was convicted in March of seven crimes stemming from the investigation.
