Cops Arrest Somali Fraud Scheme Kingpin, Officials Say

Interesting arrested, minnesota, somali, somali fraud admin June 27, 2026 0 Comments

Cops Arrest Somali Fraud Scheme Kingpin, Officials Say

A fugitive accused of helping run the largest pandemic fraud scheme in U.S. history is in custody after more than four years abroad.

Abdikerm Abdelahi Eidleh, 42, of Burnsville, Minnesota, was taken into custody June 25 in Mogadishu, Somalia, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office (USAO) for the District of Minnesota. He ranked as one of the central figures in the $250 million Feeding Our Future scandal and answered to Aimee Bock, the nonprofit’s founder, who received a 500-month federal prison sentence last month, the office said.

According to CBS News, FBI agents worked alongside Somali intelligence officers to track down Eidleh, who investigators describe as Bock’s second in command. (RELATED: Woman At Center Of Minnesota’s Feeding Our Future Fraud Scandal Sentenced To 41.5 Years In Prison)

Eidleh recruited operators to enroll meal sites under Feeding Our Future and collected bribes and kickbacks from people seeking approval, prosecutors said. He also controlled several shell companies and moved more than $5 million in fraud proceeds through them, KSTP reported. One transfer covered a $95,000 mortgage payment on his Burnsville home, according to the outlet.

A grand jury returned a 31-count indictment against him in September 2022, charging conspiracy, wire fraud, federal programs bribery and money laundering, according to the USAO.

“Eidleh’s capture shows that, if you commit fraud against the American taxpayer, and try hiding across the globe, the long arm of justice will find you,” U.S. Attorney Daniel N. Rosen said in the office’s announcement.

Eidleh slipped out of the country roughly two months before agents executed search warrants on Feeding Our Future sites in January 2022, KSTP reported. He stayed overseas until this week.

Prosecutors have charged 79 people in the sprawling case, and 66 have been convicted or pleaded guilty, CBS News reported. Bock, sentenced in May, received the stiffest penalty so far. The total fraud across Minnesota’s social service programs could exceed $1 billion, Rosen previously told the outlet.