A “central figure” in the Feeding Our Future scandal who has been hiding out in Somalia for years was transferred back to Minnesota this week to face charges.
U.S. Attorney Daniel Rosen announced Thursday that Abdikerm Abdelahi Eidleh, 42, was extradited to Minnesota and is now in custody at the Sherburne County Jail.
Eidleh was apprehended by law enforcement in Mogadishu, Somalia, late last month.
“Abdikerm Eidleh is second only to Aimee Bock in the Feeding Our Future fraud scheme. His capture and transfer back to Minnesota show how far the arm of American law enforcement can reach, and that you can run, but you cannot hide,” said Rosen.
Bock, the founder of Feeding Our Future, was sentenced to 41 years in federal prison in May.
She was convicted by a jury in March 2025 of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy to commit federal programs bribery, and bribery after prosecutors described how she led a scheme to defraud a federal child nutrition program of more than $240 million that was intended to help feed children during the pandemic.
Eidleh, a Feeding Our Future employee, was among the first 47 defendants charged in the case in September 2022. He was allegedly responsible for recruiting people to participate in the scheme by having them open meal sites under Feeding Our Future’s sponsorship.
According to the Department of Justice, Eidleh solicited and accepted bribes and kickbacks from the meal site operators that were disguised as “consulting fees” and wired through shell companies.
Additionally, the charges allege that Eidleh created his own meal sites and fraudulently claimed the sites were serving meals to thousands of kids per day.
“He also created shell companies purporting to be meal vendors for those sites and created and submitted fraudulent invoices to obtain, misappropriate, and defraud federal nutrition program funds,” the DOJ said.
All told, Eidleh allegedly deposited more than $5 million in kickbacks, bribes, and fraud proceeds into accounts connected to his shell companies.
“The transfer of Abdikerm Abdelahi Eidleh brings to justice one of the alleged ringleaders of the $250 million ‘Feeding our Future’ fraud scandal out of Minnesota — where this FBI has already helped secure over 70 guilty pleas from fraudsters in partnership with the Justice Department,” said FBI Director Kash Patel.
“These are individuals who stole critical, taxpayer funded resources from kids in need during the COVID pandemic — and Eidleh was allegedly right at the top of the operation.”
Eidleh was expected to make his first court appearance on Friday. He is facing 31 charges, including conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy to commit federal programs bribery, federal programs bribery, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and money laundering.
“The FBI extends its sincere gratitude to the National Intelligence and Security Agency of Somalia and the Somali Police Force for their dedicated work in locating and apprehending an alleged leader in one of the most significant frauds against the American taxpayer ever detected in Minnesota,” said FBI Minneapolis Field Office Special Agent in Charge Christopher Dotson.
Anthony Gockowski
Anthony Gockowski is Editor-in-Chief of Alpha News. He previously worked as an editor for The Minnesota Sun and Campus Reform, and wrote for the Daily Caller.
