FBI searches defendant's home after juror offered $120,000 bribe for not guilty verdict

Federal agents searched the home of at least one of seven defendants facing a high-profile fraud trial, days after a juror said someone tried to bribe her with nearly $120,000 in cash in exchange for payment.

The FBI said it conducted “court-authorized law enforcement activities” Wednesday in Savage, Minn., where, according to a superseding indictment, at least three of the defendants purchased homes over the last years.

The seven defendants are accused of embezzling millions of dollars intended to feed children during the pandemic. The federal fraud trial, which began April 22, is the first in a so-called $250 million Covid relief package that prosecutors say is the largest of its kind.

On the eve of deliberations Sunday evening, a juror said a woman delivered a gift bag filled with cash and left it with a relative, according to an FBI search warrant affidavit. The names of the jurors have not been made public, but the visitor knew the woman's first name and told his relative that there would be “more gifts tomorrow” if the juror agreed to vote not guilty, the report said. affidavit.

The juror was dismissed after reporting the alleged bribe attempt to the court and police. A second juror was released Tuesday after a family member brought up the alleged bribe in conversation.

It is unclear who offered the bribe to the juror. The FBI said all defendants, their attorneys and prosecutors had access to this juror's identifying information. U.S. District Judge Nancy Brasel ordered the defendants to turn over their cell phones and all seven were taken into custody.

It is also unclear who was targeted by the FBI activity on Wednesday and what this may have resulted in. Several search warrants were filed Wednesday in the U.S. District of Minnesota, but none were available to the public.

The FBI said the investigation was ongoing and declined to provide or confirm further information. The U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Minnesota declined to comment.

The search comes as the sequestered jury continues to deliberate on the fate of Abdiaziz Shafii Farah, Mohamed Jama Ismail, Abdimajid Mohamed Nur, Said Shafii Farah, Abdiwahab Maalim Aftin, Mukhtar Mohamed Shariff and Hayat Mohamed Nur. The defendants face criminal charges including conspiracy, wire fraud, federal program bribery and money laundering.

Steve Schleicher, an attorney representing Said Shafii Farah, declined to comment. None of the attorneys listed for the other six defendants responded to requests for comment.

From April 2020 to January 2022, according to a criminal complaint, the defendants collectively received more than $40 million in federal Child Nutrition Program funds intended to provide free, nutritious meals to low-income children and families.

While the defendants claimed to have fed millions of children with the funds, prosecutors said they used most of the money to purchase several homes, properties and luxury vehicles.

The defendants were among 70 people charged by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Minnesota in connection with a massive fraud scheme involving the nonprofit organization Feeding Our Future. Eighteen pleaded guilty, officials said.

Feeding Our Future was a participating sponsor of the federal child nutrition program. Prosecutors said the nonprofit's employees recruited people and entities to open federal child nutrition program sites throughout Minnesota. Feeding Our Future went from receiving and disbursing about $3.4 million in federal funds in 2019 to nearly $200 million in 2021, prosecutors said.