Feeding Our Future offices (Photo: AP)
MINNEAPOLIS (KFGO) – A Golden Valley, Minnesota man has pleaded guilty to wire fraud for his role in the $250 million Feeding Our Future fraud scheme that exploited a federally funded child nutrition program during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Forty-year-old Ahmed Artan is the 46th conviction related to the scandal. In October 2020, Artan acquired non-profit Stigma-Free International. He and his co-defendants used the entity to open multiple Feeding Our Future sites across Minnesota.
According to court documents, Artan and his co-defendants did not use fraudulently obtained money to serve meals or feed children. He and his co-defendants created a shell company called Five A’s Projects LLC, where they transferred more than $1 million in Federal Child Nutrition Program funds. They used these proceeds to purchase the former location of Kelly’s 19th Hole, a bar and restaurant in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, which will be forfeited to the United States.
In total, Artan caused a loss of approximately $1,682,664 in Federal Child Nutrition Program funds based on fraudulent reimbursement claims.
Artan pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled at a later date.
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