56th Defendant Pleads Guilty in Feeding Our Future Fraud Scheme

MINNEAPOLIS - Today, Abdullahe Nur Jesow, age 65, became the 56^th defendant to plead guilty in the massive Feeding Our Future fraud scheme, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Joseph H. Thompson.

"On the very day we secured our 56^th conviction in the Feeding Our Future fraud cases, we have also brought the first wave of charges in the Housing Stabilization fraud scheme," said Acting U.S. Attorney Joseph H. Thompson. "I am proud of the extraordinary work of our prosecutors, federal agents, and law enforcement partners who are working around the clock to expose these crimes. But the truth is they should not have to. Minnesota deserves better."

Jesow was one of eight defendants charged in United States v. Hassan, et al., 22-cr-224 (NEB/DTS). This group, the S&S Catering group, purported to run food program sites, including on Lake Street in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The group worked together to steal and then launder $17.4 million in Federal Child Nutrition Program money that was meant to feed hungry children during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Today, Jesow pled guilty before District Judge Nancy E. Brasel to money laundering for his role in the scheme. Jesow had been set to proceed to trial before Judge Brasel on October 14, 2025. One defendant now remains in that trial.

Jesow operated a Federal Child Nutrition Program site called Academy For Youth Excellence. Academy For Youth Excellence purported to run a site and serve meals out of Benadir Hall, a banquet hall located above S & S Catering. Benadir Hall was listed on the site application for Academy For Youth Excellence that scheme leader Aimee Bock submitted to MDE on December 30, 2020. Academy For Youth Excellence contracted with S & S Catering to act as a vendor to provide the food that the site was to serve or deliver to children under the federal food program.

Beginning in December 2020, Jesow and his co-conspirators claimed to serve approximately 2,500 meals a day to children, seven days a week. By April 2021, Jesow and his co-conspirators claimed to serve approximately 5,000 meals a day to children, seven days a week. As Jesow knew, these numbers were grossly inflated. In support of their false claims, Jesow's co-conspirators prepared and submitted fraudulent meal counts, attendance rosters, and invoices.

In total, during the period between December 2020 to September 2021, Academy For Youth Excellence claimed to have served more than 1.7 million meals. In reality, Academy for Youth Excellence only provided a fraction of those meals. Based on these claims, Jesow's co-conspirators received $4,286,088 in Federal Child Nutrition Program funds, Jesow received approximately 5% of that amount, and then returned the bulk of it to the co-conspirators in cash or check payments, laundering the proceeds of the fraud scheme.

This case is the result of an investigation conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the United States Postal Inspection Service, and the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation.

Acting U.S. Attorney Joseph H. Thompson and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Harry M. Jacobs, Daniel W. Bobier, and Melinda A. Williams are prosecuting the case.