Federal prosecutors have asked that the pretrial release of Abdiwahab Ahmed Mohamud be revoked after he allegedly engaged in witness tampering and obstruction of justice prior to the beginning of his criminal trial.
A defendant in one of the many Feeding Our Future cases, Mohamud was one of the first to be indicted in the massive $250 million scheme that saw fraudsters steal from a federal child nutrition program designed to feed hungry children.
Mohamud is facing multiple criminal charges that include wire fraud and money laundering. According to prosecutors, Mohamud was a part of a group that fraudulently took over $17 million of federal funds. The other co-conspirators in that group have all pleaded guilty.
The 35-year-old’s criminal trial is scheduled to begin in two weeks. However, prosecutors have now accused Mohamud of witness tampering and obstruction of justice.
Back in 2022, Mohamud was granted a pretrial release when he was first indicted. This allowed him to avoid living in detention throughout his legal proceedings but came with conditions. One of the conditions was not contacting any potential witnesses in his case.
However, prosecutors are now alleging Mohamud broke that condition when he twice met with someone identified as “Conspirator A,” one of Mohamud’s co-conspirators.
According to a court document, federal authorities met with Conspirator A in preparation for Mohamud’s criminal trial. At that meeting, Conspirator A told the government that two in-person meetings occurred between Conspirator A and Mohamud.
Federal authorities said Conspirator A told them that Mohamud “pressured and ultimately exhorted Conspirator A to promise him that Conspirator A would not testify against him in this upcoming criminal trial.”
In turn, prosecutors asked the court to revoke Mohamud’s pretrial release and said his actions “are not merely violative of his release conditions, they are criminal.”
Alpha News reached out to Mohamud’s attorney for this story but did not hear back. A media inquiry submitted to the U.S. Attorney’s Office was also not returned.
News of the alleged witness tampering is not the first time one of the Feeding Our Future trials has become embroiled in controversy.
Last year, authorities uncovered a plot to bribe a juror observing one of the other Feedings Our Future trials. That scheme, which was discovered in the middle of the trial, resulted in five guilty pleas. Additionally, another defendant in a separate trial admitted to attempted witness tampering.
Luke Sprinkel
Luke Sprinkel previously worked as a Legislative Assistant at the Minnesota House of Representatives. He grew up as a Missionary Kid (MK) living in England, Thailand, Tanzania, and the Middle East. Luke graduated from Regent University in 2018.
