FEEDING OUR FUTURE DEFENDANT TAKEN INTO CUSTODY IN SOMALIA AFTER YEARS-LONG INTERNATIONAL SEARCH

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — A Minnesota man accused of serving as one of the central figures in the Feeding Our Future fraud scheme has been taken into custody in Somalia, nearly four years after federal prosecutors charged him in connection with the theft and laundering of millions of dollars intended to provide meals to children during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Abdikerm Abdelahi Eidleh, 42, of Burnsville, Minnesota, was apprehended on June 25, 2026, in Mogadishu through cooperation between U.S. authorities and Somalia’s National Intelligence and Security Agency.

Federal officials stated that Eidleh fled the United States after the Feeding Our Future investigation exposed what the Department of Justice described as the largest pandemic-related fraud scheme charged in the country at the time.

Eidleh was originally charged by indictment on September 13, 2022, and the broader federal case was publicly announced later that month. The indictment contains 31 counts involving 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 apprehension represents a significant development in the continuing Feeding Our Future prosecution, which began with charges against 47 defendants across six indictments and three criminal informations. Federal prosecutors stated that the broader scheme involved approximately $250 million in Federal Child Nutrition Program funds intended to reimburse organizations serving meals to children in need during the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to court documents, Eidleh worked for Feeding Our Future and was responsible for recruiting and supporting meal sites operating under the nonprofit organization’s sponsorship.

Federal prosecutors allege that Eidleh and other Feeding Our Future employees solicited and received bribes and kickbacks from individuals and companies seeking authorization to operate fraudulent meal sites. The indictment describes a pay-to-play structure in which site operators returned portions of their fraud proceeds to Feeding Our Future employees in exchange for sponsorship and continued access to federal reimbursement funds.

Authorities stated that many of the payments were disguised as consulting fees and routed through shell companies created to conceal their actual purpose.

The indictment further alleges that Eidleh established Federal Child Nutrition Program sites using nominee owners while maintaining control over the operations. Those sites submitted claims stating that thousands of meals were being served to children each day.

Prosecutors allege the meal counts were false.

According to court documents, Eidleh also created companies that purported to operate as food vendors serving the sites. Those companies generated and submitted fraudulent invoices used to support reimbursement claims for meals and services that federal investigators say were never provided as represented.

The indictment alleges that more than $5 million in kickbacks, bribes, and other fraud proceeds were deposited into bank accounts associated with Eidleh’s shell companies. Prosecutors state that the accounts were used to conceal the source, ownership, and nature of the money.

The allegations against Eidleh form one part of a much larger federal prosecution involving Feeding Our Future, a Minnesota nonprofit organization that participated as a sponsor in the Federal Child Nutrition Program.

The program is funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and administered in Minnesota through the Minnesota Department of Education. Authorized sponsors approve meal sites, monitor their operations, submit reimbursement claims, and distribute federal funds based on the number of qualifying meals reportedly served.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, federal officials temporarily modified certain program requirements to ensure children could continue receiving meals while schools and other traditional distribution systems were disrupted.

Those changes allowed meals to be distributed outside educational settings and permitted additional organizations, including for-profit restaurants, to participate.

Federal prosecutors state that members of the Feeding Our Future network exploited those emergency changes by opening large numbers of meal sites, creating shell companies, and submitting reimbursement claims for meals that were never served.

Feeding Our Future grew from receiving and distributing approximately $3.4 million in federal nutrition funds in 2019 to nearly $200 million in 2021. Federal authorities allege that the rapid growth was fueled by fabricated meal counts, false invoices, invented attendance records, bribes, kickbacks, and money laundering.

According to the original charging documents, Feeding Our Future sponsored more than 250 meal sites across Minnesota and fraudulently obtained and distributed more than $240 million in Federal Child Nutrition Program funds.

Investigators uncovered attendance rosters containing fabricated names and ages, including records generated through random-name websites and spreadsheet formulas. Prosecutors stated that some operators claimed to serve thousands of children each day from locations that lacked the staff, food supplies, storage space, or physical capacity required to produce and distribute the reported number of meals.

The federal government alleges that proceeds from the broader scheme were used to purchase luxury vehicles, homes, commercial property, jewelry, international travel, and real estate in the United States and overseas, including property in Kenya and Turkey.

Eidleh was named in the indictment involving Feeding Our Future founder and executive director Aimee Marie Bock and 12 other defendants. Prosecutors identified him as an employee who helped recruit sites, facilitate their participation in the nutrition program, and collect payments from operators.

Federal authorities stated that his location outside the United States did not end the investigation.

The FBI Minneapolis Field Office worked with international partners to locate Eidleh in Somalia. Federal officials credited Somalia’s National Intelligence and Security Agency with assisting in his apprehension.

FBI Minneapolis Special Agent in Charge Christopher D. Dotson stated that the operation demonstrated the Bureau’s ability to pursue fugitives internationally and return defendants to the judicial process.

The investigation has involved the Federal Bureau of Investigation, IRS Criminal Investigation, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and Homeland Security Investigations.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Rebecca E. Kline, Matthew C. Murphy, and Austin Bowyer are prosecuting the cases.

The prosecution also falls within the work of the Justice Department’s National Fraud Enforcement Division, which was created in April 2026 to investigate and prosecute large-scale fraud targeting taxpayers and federal benefit programs.

Eidleh’s capture does not establish his guilt. The charges contained in the indictment remain allegations, and he is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

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