Feeding Our Future: How high up does the corruption go?
The next trial of four defendants begins February 3 and will feature some of the biggest names in the scandal: Aimee Bock (Defendant No. 1), two co-owners of the now-defunct Safari Restaurant (Salim Said and Abdulkadir Salah), and Abdi Salah, a former senior policy aide to Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey. The two Salah’s are brothers.
In preparation for the four-defendant trial beginning February 3, prosecutors have filed a 43-page pre-trial brief, a 102-page list of potential trial exhibits, and a 28-page potential witness list (including 175 names). These documents make for fascinating reading.
The sprawling free-food scandal also features another defendant not on trial next month with political ties. Sharmarke Issa (No. 34) was appointed by Frey to two terms serving as Chair of the city’s public housing authority. Last year, Issa became Guilty Plea No. 19 in the case. Issa is listed as a potential witness in the upcoming trial (p. 23). Issa’s name appears on the exhibit list on four separate occasions.
Speaking of guilty pleas, No. 24 is scheduled to be entered next week by Ayan Abukar (Defendant No. 58), who was given an award by Gov. Tim Walz back in 2021, during the height of the scandal:
Abukar is on the witness list for the upcoming trial (p. 21).
In outlining their case against former mayoral aide Abdi Salah, prosecutors write in the trial brief (p. 9):
Which politicians? The brief does not specify. The trial witness list does include Mayor Jacob Frey (p. 28). MPR News reports.
Back in March 2022, the Minnesota Star Tribune reported on 2021 efforts by Mayor Frey to support Feeding Our Future. The Star Tribune wrote:
Before sitting down with state officials last year to discuss a meals program that is now under federal investigation for fraud, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey was provided with a list of talking points that came from the woman at the heart of the alleged conspiracy, according to newly released records.
Aimee Bock, executive director of Feeding Our Future, drafted a set of talking points for city officials to use during a May 14 meeting with Heather Mueller, commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE), records show. At the time, the department had stopped all payments to Feeding Our Future over concerns about what it called the organization’s “rapid” and “unexplained growth.”
Bock’s main contact at City Hall, according to the records, was Abdi Salah, a former aide to Frey who was fired in February.
The trial exhibit numbered R-4 refers to an April 29, 2021, email chain between Abdi Salah and Aimee Bock.
The exhibit numbered II-14 contains the cryptic description, “Text message string between Abdi Nur Salah and Andrea Mayors Office.”
The trial exhibit list includes two emails (F-21 and F-23) between Minneapolis city council member Jamal Osman and Abdi Salah. However, both emails appear to relate to the transfer of ownership of Osman’s nonprofit Stigma-Free International to the defendants, rather than any lobbying effort on behalf of Feeding Our Future. A third email involving Osman (O-4) appears to relate to a different nonprofit (Optimum Community Services).
Also in 2021, state Sen. Omar Fateh (DFL-Minneapolis) appears on video boasting about his interventions on behalf of Feeding Our Future. Fateh is running against Frey for Mayor this year.
Slightly changing the subject, the trial brief and exhibit list mention a number of items subject to forfeiture. Here is a list of automobiles:
2020 Dodge Charger Hellcat
2020 Lexus RX 350
2021 Cadillac Escalade
2021 Chevrolet Silverado
2021 Dodge Ram 1500
2021 Land Rover
2021 Lexus RX 350
2021 Mercedes Benz GLA
2021 Mercedes Benz S580
2022 Mini Cooper S Countryman
2022 GMC Sierra 1500
As Janis Joplin once sang:
Oh Lord, won’t you buy me a Mercedes Benz?
My friends all drive Porsches, I must make amends