Fraud in Minnesota

MPR News
What's the deal with fraud in Minnesota? The Feeding Our Future scandal, explained.

Fraud in Minnesota has become a flashpoint for incendiary comments about Somali-Americans by President Donald Trump, as well as a sticking point in the 2026 Minnesota gubernatorial election. It's also resulted in a fair bit of misinformation and disinformation in the news.

FBI number crunchers track taxpayer cash to house, vehicle purchases in Feeding Our Future trial
A final witness for the prosecution in the Feeding Our Future trial told jurors how she traced the defendants’ alleged purchases of vehicles, property and airline tickets back to taxpayer-funded child nutrition programs.
Feds charge 2 Minneapolis consultants in $1M COVID-19 fraud
A grand jury has indicted two Minneapolis business consultants on charges of defrauding government pandemic aid programs out of more than a million dollars.
‘Rgian Pumqr’ and ‘Jeffrey Dharmer’ among names on Feeding Our Future meal lists
An investigator said identical names appeared over and over, in many cases as part of payment claims for meals served simultaneously at distribution sites miles apart. He said that the same 122 children were listed in reimbursement requests for meals served in April 2021.
Jurors in Feeding Our Future case see defendants’ long text trail
Jurors in federal court in Minneapolis were shown hundreds of WhatsApp text messages in which operators of food distribution sites allegedly discussed how to divvy up money that they stole from government child nutrition programs.
Feeding Our Future witness says he helped set up fake meal sites during the pandemic
A former Feeding Our Future employee said in a federal courtroom in Minneapolis that he conspired with others at the Twin Cities nonprofit to steal money from government child nutrition programs. He said he received kickbacks disguised as consultant payments.
‘Not possible’ to deliver as many meals as Feeding Our Future defendants claimed, school official says
A Shakopee school district official testified Monday that it would have been impossible to deliver food in the quantities allegedly claimed by the defendants in the Feeding Our Future trial.
Sharp growth raised ‘red flags’ about meal program fraud, state official testifies
A state regulator testified in the first Feeding Our Future trial Tuesday that she was concerned after seeing massive growth in reimbursement requests through child nutrition programs during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Attorneys outline cases as first Feeding Our Future trial starts
Prosecutors say seven defendants schemed to steal $47 million from taxpayer-funded child nutrition programs by falsifying attendance rosters and food invoices. Defense attorneys said their clients were following the rules and feeding children.
Jury seated in first Feeding Our Future trial
A jury has been seated in the first trial to stem from the sprawling federal investigation into the nonprofit Feeding Our Future.
Jury selection set to start in first Feeding Our Future trial
Jury selection is scheduled to begin Monday morning in the trial of several of the people accused of taking part in a $250 million scheme to defraud government child nutrition programs during the COVID-19 pandemic.