Mayor Jacob Frey is included on a long list of people who could be called to testify in the second Feeding Our Future trial scheduled to begin in February.
That’s because Frey’s former senior policy aide, Abdi Nur Salah, is among the four people set to go on trial as part of a massive federal child nutrition fraud case that revolved around a nonprofit called Feeding Our Future. The second trial in the massive pandemic fraud case is set to begin Feb. 3. Federal prosecutors say a large network of nonprofits bilked the federal government out of more than $250 million meant to feed hungry children during the pandemic.
Frey is listed among 175 people on the prosecutors' witness list because he could be called to testify about Salah’s work at the city, the city’s outside employment policy and other ethics regulations. Frey is not charged in the case and hasn’t been accused of being involved in the fraud. His spokesperson Ally Peters said Frey hasn’t been subpoenaed to testify.
“Mayor Frey respects the judicial process and has no new information on this specific case,” she said. “The broad scheme laid out by prosecutors is reprehensible and those responsible must be held accountable.”
The others set to go on trial alongside Salah are Feeding Our Future founder Aimee Bock, Salah’s brother Abdulkadir Nur Salah and Salim Ahmed Said.
Abdulkadir Nur Salah co-owned Safari Restaurant, which prosecutors say fraudulently received over $16 million in federal funds in 2020 and 2021.
Prosecutors say Abdi Salah and the former chair of the Minneapolis Public Housing Authority, Sharmarke Issa, used federal pandemic funds to buy a $390,000 four-unit apartment complex in south Minneapolis. Issa was appointed by Frey to chair the housing authority in 2019.
Abdi Salah was fired and Issa resigned after the federal investigation broke open with a massive FBI raid in January 2022. Issa pleaded guilty in September to wire fraud and money laundering, defrauding the government of $7.6 million. Issa claimed to serve 2.3 million meals to children at his food sites.