Salim Said, aged 37, from Somalia, has been sentenced to 30 years’ imprisonment by a US federal court.
He defrauded millions of dollars from a food programme for poor children in Minnesota, reports CBS Minnesota.
“You did not just enrich yourself with taxpayers’ money. You also damaged the state’s reputation,” said Judge Nancy Brasel when the sentence was handed down in Minneapolis on Wednesday.
Said ran the Somali restaurant Safari. A jury found him guilty on all 21 counts, including fraud, bribery and money laundering. The prosecutor says that Said and others associated with the restaurant stole 44 million dollars. This is equivalent to around 440 million kroner. Said took 13 million for himself.
He claimed to be distributing 6,000 meals every day. FBI surveillance footage showed that around 40 people collected food. For 21 months, he submitted false claims, and the money went, amongst other things, towards a $1.2 million house, commercial properties and an expensive pick-up truck.
Said was born in Somalia and has lawful permanent resident status, but is not a US citizen. He may therefore be deported. His religion has not been disclosed. During the trial, he denied the charges. At sentencing, he said he was deeply sorry.
The sentence is the third longest of the 32 handed down so far in the case. The head of Feeding Our Future, Aimee Bock, was sentenced in May to nearly 42 years in prison and must repay $242 million. A total of 81 people have been charged since 2022.
President Donald Trump has repeatedly criticised Minnesota’s Democratic Governor Tim Walz for failing to exercise proper control over public funds. He has also cited the fraud as part of the justification for the crackdown on immigrants in the state.
This criticism is not without foundation. In 2024, the state auditor concluded that the Department of Education had failed to investigate several of at least 30 reports concerning Feeding Our Future between 2018 and 2021.
Furthermore, the department asked the organisation itself to investigate such complaints.
“The department’s inadequate oversight created opportunities for fraud,” stated the auditor.
It has been estimated that the fraud in Minnesota could exceed 9 billion dollars. Walz disputes this figure and says he has spent many years cracking down on fraudsters.
He announced in January that he would not be standing for re-election.
