5 charged with sending $120K bribe to juror in COVID fraud case

Five people were charged Wednesday in connection with an "elaborate scheme to infiltrate" a Minnesota jury by conspiring to bribe a juror with a bag of $120,000 in exchange for the acquittal of defendants in a $250 million pandemic fraud case, federal prosecutors said.

The unidentified juror, named "Juror 52," was offered a $120,000 cash bribe the night before the conclusion of closing arguments and the beginning of jury deliberations, according to court documents made public Wednesday. The trial, which began April 22, was the first in a fraud scheme that "exploited" a federal child nutrition program during the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. Department of Justice said in September 2022.

Federal prosecutors called the scheme one of the nation's largest pandemic-related frauds and have since charged 70 people in what authorities have dubbed as the Feeding Our Future case — named after the nonprofit organization that was participating in the program. More than $250 million in federal funds were stolen in the scheme, according to authorities.

Court documents revealed that the five people charged Wednesday researched Juror 52's personal information on social media, conducted surveillance on her home and daily habits, and purchased a GPS tracking device to install on her vehicle. Prosecutors alleged that the defendants targeted Juror 52 because she was the youngest juror and they believed her to be the only person of color.

After the attempted bribe, U.S. Attorney Andrew Luger said the juror immediately reported the incident to authorities. She was dismissed from deliberations as a matter of routine but prosecutors lauded her honesty.

“Juror 52 immediately contacted authorities when she learned of the bribe, exposing the plot to corrupt the jury,” Luger said. “Juror 52 refused the bribe and called authorities and she made a difference.”

Abdiaziz Shafii Farah, 35; Abdimajid Mohamed Nur, 23; Said Shafii Farah, 42; Abdulkarim Shafii Farah, 42; and Ladan Mohamed Ali, 31, were each charged with conspiracy to bribe a juror, bribery of a juror, and corruptly influencing a juror, according to prosecutors. Abdiaziz Shafii Farah was also charged with obstruction of justice. 

Abdiaziz Farah and Nur were among the five of seven defendants who were convicted in the Feeding Our Future trial earlier this month. Said Farah and another defendant were acquitted while Abdulkarim Farah and Ali were not involved in the case.

"The news (of the scheme) shocked all in the case and all who work in our criminal justice system," Luger said at a news conference Wednesday. "Corruption of a jury through intimidation or bribery is a serious federal crime that carries a significant prison sentence."

'More than just a mob movie'

Over the past three weeks, Luger said authorities reviewed "mountains of digital and physical evidence" in their investigation. Luger accused the five people charged of "attempting to win an acquittal — not on the evidence — but through an elaborate scheme to infiltrate" the Feeding Our Future jury.

According to court documents, Ali flew from Seattle to Minneapolis on May 17 to meet with Nur and discuss the plot. Ali allegedly agreed to deliver the bribe money to Juror 52 in exchange for $150,000, court documents said.

Ali then returned to Minneapolis on May 30 to carry out the plan and attempted to follow Juror 52 home after the conclusion of the first day of closing arguments in the trial, court documents said. On June 2, Abdiaziz Farah directed Nur to meet him at Said Farah’s business to pick up the bribe money.

"Later that day, Nur met with Ali and gave her a box containing the bribe money he had received from Said Farah," prosecutors said. "Ali took the money and put it inside a Hallmark gift bag."

Abdulkarim Farah and Ali later drove to a Target store to buy a screwdriver, which they used to remove the license plates from Ali’s rental car, according to court documents. The two drove to Juror 52's residence and Ali encountered a relative of the juror, who was not home at the time.

Ali handed the gift bag, which contained $120,000 in cash, to the relative and explained that "the money was a present in exchange for a not guilty verdict," prosecutors said. Ali also promised that there would be more money provided if the juror voted to acquit all the defendants, according to court documents.

Prosecutors said the five conspirators obtained about $200,000 in cash to bribe Juror 52 and created a “blueprint” instructing the juror to convince other jurors to vote to acquit the defendants, Luger said.

During the bribery, Abdulkarim Farah stayed in the vehicle and filmed Ali dropping off the bribe money, according to court documents. He then sent the video to his co-conspirators using an encrypted messaging app.

Court documents further alleged that after a judge ordered the conspirators to surrender their phones to law enforcement, Abdiaziz Farah conducted a factory reset to delete the messages, video, and other evidence of the bribe attempt. Nur and Said Farah also deleted evidence from their phones.

"This is more than just a mob movie," Luger said. "This is a chilling attack on our system of justice."

Feeding Our Future case

Federal authorities initially charged 47 people for their alleged roles in the pandemic-related fraud scheme and accused them of defrauding a pandemic relief program designed to provide meals for children in Minnesota.

The suspects used Feeding Our Future, a local nonprofit, as a cover to claim reimbursements for meals never provided and allegedly used federal money to buy luxury cars, houses, jewelry and resort property abroad.

Twenty-three other suspects have since been charged for their alleged involvement in the scheme. Five defendants were found guilty in early June and numerous other have already pleaded guilty, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Minnesota.

Contributing: Jonathan Limehouse and Kevin Johnson, USA TODAY