A business owner is telling a story about fraud in Minnesota that you probably haven’t heard — and what happened before the jury bribe in the Feeding Our Future scandal, the forgery that cost him tens of thousands of dollars, and the woman behind it all who walked free for so long.
Brad Billings was a guest on Liz Collin Reports. He’s a small business owner, an insurance agent—and unfortunately, a victim of fraud.
Billings hired Ladan Mohamed Ali more than a year before the jury bribe that made international news.
“In June of ‘22, Laden applied for a job in my agency. I did a background check on her. I checked her references. I interviewed her, obviously. Everything checked out, so I hired her,” Billings said.
“In her fourth week in my office, she stole $30,000. She forged a check for $30,000. Fortunately, the bank caught this, but nevertheless, she forged a check for $30,000. So one thing led to another, and it was a very unfortunate set of circumstances,” he added.
“She initially denied any responsibility for it. I told her that we had the bank video and she finally said, ‘Well, I don’t think it was me. It was my fiancé.’ So she tried to point the fingers in a lot of directions. Scott County charged her with first-degree felony check forgery. She was sent a notice to appear in court. She blew it off. She didn’t show up. They put a bench warrant out for her arrest. And interestingly enough, the authorities couldn’t find her. We found out in my office that she was working at another agency in the insurance business up in Plymouth. We reported her to Hennepin County. They knocked on the door and they arrested her,” Billings said.
Ali was charged with check forgery—a felony—and sentenced to two years of probation. Ali was then charged with trying to bribe a juror in an April 2024 trial in the Feeding Our Future case. According to the complaint, Ali left a gift bag with $120,000 on the juror’s doorstep and is accused of keeping another $80,000 for herself. She pleaded guilty in September 2024.
“When the judge sentenced her in this case, she put her on probation for [two] years with several parole stipulations. And she made the statement that will come up in the next case you just referred to, she said, ‘It was always my intent to take responsibility for my actions.’ Those were the very same words she used in this next case,” Billings said.
“Now she’s got two felonies and she’s still walking the streets. So I actually reached out to the federal district court prosecutors, told them about my case. They said, ‘Yep, we’re already aware of your case.’ And I said, ‘She’s got parole violations that she’s done. I mean, why is she still walking the streets?’ And they said, ‘That’s up to Scott County.’ So I called her probation officer in Scott County and they said, ‘That’s up to the feds. We don’t touch these federal cases.’ I said, ‘She’s in parole violation.’ And they said, ‘We don’t really do anything with that.’ Unbelievable,” Billings said.
Ali was then involved in a car crash and charged with DWI in February of this year after charges say she left the scene of the crash, then stopped in the middle of a highway. Court documents say that she was three times over the legal limit for alcohol intoxication.
“I couldn’t believe it. So she actually passed out on Highway 55, a four lane highway, after leaving the scene of an accident, arrested, put in jail,” Billings said. “I mean, what the heck is going on?”
Alpha News found Ali was arrested on Nov. 9 and is being held in the Scott County jail after failing to appear for a probation violating hearing. Court records show that she was ordered last week to serve 30 days in county jail after admitting to a probation violation.
“Very interesting and you’re right. I did just learn that she was picked up … thank God she’s where she needs to be. Do I think she has any remorse? I think she has remorse that she got caught. I think that’s where her remorse is probably coming from,” Billings said.
He also recalled that “she’s made the statement, somewhere along the lines, I can’t remember exactly where I heard this, but she said this is our culture.”
In trying to make sense of the lack of law and order, Billings said, “There’s that phrase, Minnesota nice, but you know, I don’t think it’s anything about being nice. I think it’s totally about our lack of accountability for crime.”
“To have criminals out in the street the next day and county attorneys not wanting to prosecute anything. And it’s the victim’s fault? I mean, I shake my head,” he added. “I just don’t believe it. It’s hard to fathom. I don’t get it.”
Liz Collin
Liz Collin is a multi-Emmy-Award-winning investigative reporter, news anchor, and producer who cares about Minnesota. She is the producer of The Fall of Minneapolis and Minnesota v We the People documentary films, and author of the Amazon best-selling book, They’re Lying: The Media, the Left, and The Death of George Floyd. Her work has prompted important state laws. Yet perhaps most of all, Liz has been giving a voice to the truth—and helping others tell their stories—for more than 20 years.
Dr. JC Chaix
Dr. JC Chaix is an editor, educator, and an expert in media studies. He wrote and directed the Alpha News documentary "The Fall of Minneapolis" and "Minnesota v We the People."
