A key figure in the Feeding Our Future fraud investigation who fled the country after his indictment nearly four years ago is now in custody back in Minnesota after his arrest in Somalia.

Abdikerm Abdelahi Eidleh, 42, of Burnsville, was booked Thursday into the Sherburne County jail one week after his arrest in Mogadishu on numerous federal fraud and money laundering charges tied to the sprawling $300 million pandemic-era case that’s come to be known as the Feeding Our Future prosecution, named after the nonprofit at the heart of the scheme.

Eidleh remains held without bail ahead of a court appearance Friday. Court records do not list an attorney for him.

“Abdikerm Eidleh is second only to Aimee Bock in the Feeding Our Future fraud scheme,” U.S. Attorney Daniel Rosen said in a statement announcing Eidleh’s return. “His capture and transfer back to Minnesota show how far the arm of American law enforcement can reach, and that you can run, but you cannot hide.”

A statement from FBI Director Kash Patel noted that “today is a historic moment in this FBI’s war on fraud. ... This FBI has already helped secure over 70 guilty pleas from fraudsters in partnership with the Justice Department, (and) Eidleh was allegedly right at the top of the operation.”

Bock was convicted by a jury as being the ringleader of the extensive fraud plot, and was sentenced in May to more than 41 years in prison.

She has since expressed her intention to appeal her conviction and sentence.

At Bock’s trial, witnesses described Eidleh as their main contact at Feeding Our Future who showed them how to inflate meal counts and submit false invoices for food that was never purchased.

For many fraudsters, Eidleh was the face of Feeding Our Future, making initial contact with East African restaurant owners and other site operators who sometimes spoke limited English and were more comfortable discussing an illegal reimbursement scam with someone who spoke their language, according to interviews and court records.

Eidleh allegedly demanded kickbacks, which were to be paid monthly. For instance, Faribault restaurant owner Lul Bashir Ali testified last year that she personally paid Eidleh $30,000 each month, which he would then confirm on a video phone call with Bock. Ali testified that Eidleh and other Somali immigrants on Feeding Our Future’s payroll were crucial to the scheme’s success.

“We trust them, because they are Somali,” said Ali, who pleaded guilty in 2023 to defrauding the government-funded meal program of $5 million.

Eidleh also operated his own phony meal sites that fraudulently claimed to serve thousands of meals to children, according to the indictment filed against him in 2022. Altogether, federal prosecutors alleged Eidleh deposited more than $5 million in “kickbacks bribes and other fraud proceeds,” according to the charging document.

Hanna Marekegn, who pleaded guilty to paying $150,000 in bribes to Eidleh for her participation in the scheme through her Minneapolis restaurant, said Eidleh demanded a 5% cut of her checks as payment for his help in the scheme.

Eidleh’s arrest came after another Feeding Our Future suspect accused of fleeing overseas was taken into custody last month after surrendering to authorities. Said Ereg, 47, was named one of the FBI’s “Most Wanted Fraudsters” by officials, who alleged he obtained millions of dollars through the federal child nutrition program by falsely claiming to serve thousands of children at a meal site per day. The U.S. Attorney’s Office said law enforcement facilitated Ereg’s travels from Kenya via London to Minnesota.

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(Jeff Meitrodt and Sarah Nelson of the Minnesota Star Tribune contributed to this story.)

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