A man accused of playing a role in Minnesota’s sprawling Covid fraud scandal has been arrested in Somalia, about three decades after U.S. Black Hawk helicopters were shot down in the nation’s capital.
Abdikerm Abdelahi Eidleh, 42, was detained Thursday in Mogadishu, the Somali capital best known to many Americans for the deadly 1993 helicopter incident.
Eidleh, a Burnsville resident, was indicted in September 2022 over his alleged involvement in the Feeding Our Future operation in Minnesota, which federal prosecutors have described as the largest fraud scheme of the Covid era in the United States.
According to prosecutors, Feeding Our Future collected roughly $250 million in federal money by falsely claiming it was providing millions of meals to children in need.
Authorities allege Eidleh helped recruit and sponsor Federal Child Nutrition Program locations used by those involved in the scheme.
He is also accused of setting up his own Federal Child Nutrition Program sites and falsely reporting that they were feeding thousands of children each day.
Prosecutors say Eidleh formed shell companies that posed as meal vendors, then submitted bogus invoices to draw money from federal nutrition programs.
All told, Eidleh allegedly funneled more than $5 million into bank accounts tied to his shell companies.
Abdikerm Abdelahi Eidleh, 42, was arrested Thursday in Mogadishu, Somalia. He had been indicted in September 2022 for his role in the Feeding Our Future scam, which prosecutors called the country’s largest Covid–era fraud
Eidleh was taken into custody roughly 30 years after Somali forces downed US Black Hawk helicopters in their country’s capital
The FBI said that the National Intelligence and Security Agency of Somalia had helped apprehend Eidleh
‘Rather than answer for his crimes in the United States, he fled to Somalia in a futile attempt to evade justice,’ Colin McDonald, the assistant attorney general for the national fraud enforcement division, said.
McDonald added that Eidleh ‘not only stole taxpayer dollars, but he also robbed vulnerable children of critical resources they desperately needed.’
The FBI thanked the National Intelligence and Security Agency of Somalia for their help in ‘locating and apprehending Eidleh so he may be brought to justice.’
‘We were hand in glove in this investigation from the start, and we owe a lot of gratitude to them for the success of this operation,’ Christopher Dotson, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Minneapolis Field Office, told CBS Minnesota.
It was not immediately revealed by American or Somali officials how Eidleh had been found and captured, though Dotson said authorities had been ‘tracking his whereabouts for a couple of weeks.’
Feeding Our Future purportedly helped provide millions of meals to children in need during the Covid pandemic under a federally–funded child nutrition program.
Instead, prosecutors said the organization used the money to fund international trips and buy luxury vehicles or expensive real estate.
The September 2022 indictment charged Eidleh with 31 counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy to commit federal programs bribery, federal programs bribery, conspiracy to commit money laundering and money laundering.
Eidleh is one of 79 people charged in the case, most of whom are members of Minnesota’s Somali American community.
Fifty–nine have pleaded guilty to date, according to MPR.
Eidleh was supposedly ‘second in command’ to Aimee Bock (pictured), 45, who was sentenced to more than 41 years in prison for masterminding the Feeding Our Future scam
EXCLUSIVE: Video Captures Fiery Plane Crash on Highway as Aircraft Breaks in Two
The Feeding Our Future scheme received about $250 million in federal funds while falsely claiming to be serving millions of meals for hungry children, according to prosecutors
Daniel Rosen, the US Attorney for Minnesota, alleged that Eidleh was ‘second in command’ to Aimee Bock, founder and executive director of the Feeding Our Future nonprofit when it came to the scheme.
‘This is a big fish,’ Rosen told CBS News. ‘Eidleh was a key leader and was responsible for bribing and recruiting business to steal from the American taxpayer.’
Bock, 45, was convicted last March of multiple counts involving conspiracy, wire fraud and bribery for her role in the scam.
She was sentenced to more than 41 years in prison in May.
Former Assistant US Attorney Joe Thompson, the lead fraud prosecutor in Minnesota before he resigned from the Department of Justice in January, also called Eidleh ‘one of the key players’ in the scam.
‘His role in recruiting other people to join the fraud scheme really is part of why the fraud became so sprawling as it did,’ Thompson told MPR.
He claimed that investigators first found Eidleh, who had left the US in November 2021, in December.
Two US Black Hawk helicopters were shot down in Mogadishu in October 1993. 18 Americans died as a result of the ensuing battle to protect the downed helicopters
American soldiers had been deployed to Somalia to offer humanitarian assistance in response to a massive famine in the country
Youth poses in front of wreckage December 9, 1993 in Mogadishu, Somalia. This aircraft was destroyed on October 3, the same day the US Black Hawks were shot down
‘It’s an extraordinary effort to locate and effectuate the arrest of someone in a foreign country, even more so in a country like Somalia, which does not have an organized federal government [and] does not have robust federal law enforcement like we do here in the United States,’ Thompson told the outlet.
Eidleh has not yet had an opportunity to enter a plea in the case, according to The Associated Press.
Court documents did not show if he had retained an attorney, per the AP.
Eidleh’s capture in Mogadishu, with remarkable collaboration from Somali authorities, comes about 33 years after the Black Hawk Down Incident in October 1993.
Then, two US Black Hawk helicopters were shot down were shot down in Mogadishu, according to the BBC.
The US had sent soldiers to Somalia to support a UN mission offering humanitarian assistance in response to a severe famine.
The downing resulted in the capture of an American pilot, Michael Durant.
As a result of the ensuing 15-hour battle to defend the helicopters, 18 Americans died and 73 were injured, NPR reported.
Durant was released eleven days later, according to the Special Operations Warrior Foundation.
The US Attorney’s Office in Minnesota’s office told the Daily Mail on Saturday that it had no more details to share for now.
