A nonprofit run by a stepbrother of state Rep. Mohamud Noor has lost its federal child nutrition funding after working with an organization that investigators are scrutinizing as part of a massive fraud probe.
Noor, a Democratic legislator representing Minneapolis, said he has had "zero connection" to his stepbrother, Mohamed Amin Ahmed, and doesn't know anything about his nonprofit, Average Mohamed. Ahmed and Average Mohamed have not been accused of any wrongdoing in the meals program.
Ahmed, who didn't return messages for comment Thursday, started the Minneapolis nonprofit in 2015 and it has been acclaimed over the years for helping Muslim youth.
State records in 2022 show Average Mohamed said in a program application that it planned to serve 1,800 meals a day in Minneapolis.
"I'm not aware of what he's doing or even if he was involved," Noor said, adding that he hasn't talked to his stepbrother in months.
Noor said the charges so far against 49 people in the scheme — the largest pandemic-related fraud in the country — are shocking. Prosecutors say many people in the scheme used taxpayer money meant to feed kids to buy luxury cars, homes and other goods.
"We have to make sure everybody is held accountable for their actions," Noor said. "We've been condemning anyone who was involved, and they should be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law."
The giant federally funded meals program reimburses nonprofits and schools for feeding low-income kids and adults after school and during the summer. The Minnesota Department of Education, which oversees the federal reimbursements, works with 2,000 meal program sponsors that partner with more than 10,000 food sites. The Education Department doled out $324 million just to non-school operators in 2021, up from $72 million in 2020, according to the Legislative Auditor's Office.