A man scheduled to go on trial soon in the federal Feeding Our Future fraud case faces allegations of tampering with a witness expected to testify against him, according to court records.
Federal prosecutors on late Wednesday asked U.S. District Judge Nancy Brasel to detain and jail Abdiwahab Mohamud ahead of his trial, set to begin in two weeks, over allegations he pressured a witness not to take the stand.
Mohamud is charged with seven counts, ranging from wire fraud to money laundering, for his alleged role in the $250 million fraud scheme that’s come to be known as the Feeding Our Future prosecution, named after the nonprofit at the center of the case.
Seventy-five defendants have been accused of defrauding the federal child nutrition program, intended to feed hungry children during the COVID-19 pandemic, to make luxury purchases.
Seven of Mohamud’s co-conspirators have pleaded guilty to their involvement in the fraud before going to trial. In their request to the judge to jail him, federal prosecutors said Mohamud strongly urged one of those defendants not to testify against him.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office said that one of the witnesses in the forthcoming trial told prosecutors that Mohamud twice pressured them during in-person meetings not to testify, calling them a “snitch” and criticizing them for taking a plea deal. The witness told the government that Mohamud ended the meetings by making them promise to not testify.
The witness agreed, and later told federal prosecutors they did not want to testify because of the confrontation.
“His conduct constitutes an assault on the integrity of these proceedings,” prosecutors said in court records, noting Mohamud’s conditions for pretrial release barred him from contacting his co-conspirators.
