Legislative Auditor Slams MDE Over Poor 'Feeding Our Future' Oversight

ST. PAUL, MN — The Minnesota Legislative Auditor's Office blamed the state's Department of Education for "inadequate oversight of Feeding Our Future" that "created opportunities for fraud."

The analysis comes from a 120-page report that was released Thursday. Read the entire report here.

MDE "failed to act on warning signs known to the department prior to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and prior to the start of the alleged fraud," the report states.

The department also "did not effectively exercise its authority to hold Feeding Our Future accountable to program requirements" and "was ill-prepared to respond to the issues it encountered with Feeding Our Future," according to the analysis.

In total, seventy "Feeding Our Future" defendants have been charged in the $250 million fraud scheme. Of those, eighteen defendants have entered guilty pleas.

Additionally, five defendants were convicted by a jury last week following a six-week trial.

Juror bribery attempt

FBI agents reportedly raided a Feeding Our Future defendant's home on Wednesday as part of the investigation into the attempted bribery of a juror.

Agents arrived at Mukhtar Shariff's Burnsville house at about 8 a.m., a neighbor told the Star Tribune.

Shariff and four others were convicted by a jury last week for trying to steal $40 million of COVID-era government funds set aside to feed needy children. Two other defendants were acquitted.

But two days before jury deliberations, a woman dropped off a bag of $120,000 in cash at one juror's home and said the juror would get more cash if she voted to acquit.

The juror immediately reported the incident to the police and was excused from serving on the jury.

Editor's note: A previous version of this story was updated for clarification.