Woman Used Stolen COVID Funds To Buy Massive Lakeville Property: Feds

MINNEAPOLIS — A Savage woman has admitted her role in a massive fraud scheme that exploited a federally funded child nutrition program during the COVID-19 pandemic, Acting U.S. Attorney Lisa D. Kirkpatrick announced.

Ayan Farah Abukar, 43, pleaded guilty Friday in U.S. District Court to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Her sentencing date has not yet been scheduled.

Prosecutors say Abukar used stolen federal funds to purchase luxury items and properties, including a 37-acre commercial property in Lakeville and an aircraft in Nairobi, Kenya.

According to prosecutors, Abukar and her co-defendants orchestrated a scheme to defraud the Federal Child Nutrition Program, misappropriating and laundering millions of dollars intended to reimburse the cost of meals for children.

Investigators say the defendants exploited program changes designed to ensure underserved children were fed during the pandemic. Instead of feeding children, they used the funds for personal enrichment.

Abukar, the founder and executive director of the non-profit organization Action for East African People, enrolled her organization in the Federal Child Nutrition Program under the sponsorship of Feeding Our Future.

Between October 2020 and 2022, Abukar falsely claimed to have served as many as 5,000 children daily at her sites in Bloomington, Minneapolis, Savage, and St. Paul.

In total, Abukar fraudulently obtained approximately $5.7 million in federal funds. She also paid more than $330,000 in kickbacks to a Feeding Our Future employee, investigators revealed.