Federal agents searched the Minnesota home of at least one of the seven defendants facing a high-profile fraud trial just days after jurors testified that one of them tried to bribe the defendants with about $120,000 in cash in exchange for an acquittal.
The FBI said Wednesday it conducted a “court-authorized law enforcement operation” in Savage, Minnesota, where at least three of the defendants have purchased homes in recent years, according to the indictment.
The seven defendants are accused of misappropriating millions of dollars that were meant to be used to feed children during the pandemic. The federal fraud trial that began on April 22 is the first trial into the alleged $250 million COVID-19 relief plan and is the largest of its kind, according to prosecutors.
On the eve of the verdict Sunday night, one juror said a woman delivered a gift bag full of cash to be left with a relative, according to an FBI search warrant affidavit. The juror’s name has not been released, but the visitor knew the woman’s name and told the relative “there are more presents tomorrow” if the juror agreed to vote not guilty, the affidavit said.
The juror was dismissed after reporting the bribery allegations to the court and police. A second juror was dismissed on Tuesday after a family member mentioned the bribery allegations in conversation.
It’s unclear who bribed the jurors, but officials said all of the defendants, their lawyers and prosecutors had access to the identities of the jurors.
U.S. District Judge Nancy Brazel said in a detention order filed Thursday that it was “more likely than not” that at least one of the defendants was involved in the bribery attempt.
“In the Court’s view, it is entirely possible that one of the seven defendants on trial engaged in jury tampering,” Brazell wrote.
“The conduct reported by the juror undermines the very foundations of our justice system,” the judge added. “The Court attaches paramount importance to the sanctity of the jury system.”
Brazell said jury tampering is a felony that carries lengthy prison sentences, including up to 20 years in prison.
The judge ordered the defendants to surrender their mobile phones and all seven were remanded in custody.
It’s also unclear who was targeted in Wednesday’s FBI operation or what results it might have achieved. Multiple search warrants were issued Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Minnesota, but none of them have been made public.
The FBI declined to provide or confirm any further information, citing an ongoing investigation, and the Minnesota Attorney’s Office declined to comment.
The search comes as a sequestered jury continues to deliberate the fate of Abdiaziz Shafi’i Farah, Mohamed Jama Ismail, Abdimadjid Mohamed Noor, Saeed Shafi’i Farah, Abdiwahab Maalim Aftin, Mukhtar Mohamed Sharif and Hayat Mohamed Noor, who are charged with conspiracy, wire fraud, federal program bribery and money laundering, among other felony charges.
Steve Schleicher, an attorney representing Syed Shafii Farah, declined to comment. Attorneys representing the other six defendants did not respond to requests for comment.
According to the criminal complaint, the defendants collectively received more than $40 million between April 2020 and January 2022 in federal child nutrition program funds designed to provide free nutritious meals to children and low-income families.
The defendants claimed they used the funds to feed millions of children, but prosecutors said they used much of the money to purchase multiple homes, real estate and luxury vehicles.
The defendants are among 70 people indicted by the Minnesota U.S. Attorney’s Office in a massive fraud case involving the nonprofit Feeding Our Future, of which 18 have pleaded guilty, authorities said.
Feeding Our Future was a participating sponsor of the federal child nutrition program. Prosecutors said employees of the nonprofit recruited individuals and organizations to open federal child nutrition program sites throughout Minnesota. Feeding Our Future received and spent about $3.4 million in federal funds in 2019, an amount that increased to about $200 million in 2021, prosecutors said.
