FBI, DOJ Announce Arrest of ‘Most Wanted Fraudster’ Fugitive

A man charged in the Feeding Our Future fraud scheme was arrested after he surrendered to law enforcement in Minneapolis on Wednesday, the FBI and federal prosecutors announced, after he was added to an FBI “most wanted” list.

Said Abdullahi Ereg, who had been a fugitive before his surrender, was indicted in 2024 in the sprawling fraud scheme on charges including conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering, according to a news release from the Department of Justice (DOJ).

FBI Director Kash Patel, in a post on X, said that Ereg’s arrest “is only the FIRST within the first week of announcing the Most Wanted Fraudster List,” referring to an initiative that was created by the DOJ and FBI last week.

Ereg is accused of laundering millions of dollars through the Federal Child Nutrition Program, meant to feed needy children, during the COVID-19 pandemic, prosecutors said.

“A federal arrest warrant was issued for Ereg after he was charged, but he was not arrested as he was living overseas and his exact whereabouts were unknown,” the DOJ said.

The FBI stated in a “most wanted” bulletin that Ereg was born in Somalia.

In the scheme, Ereg partook in the federal nutrition program under sponsorship from Feeding Our Future, and between April 2020 and April 2021, he allegedly “defrauded the program by submitting false reimbursement claims, for which he received more than $4.2 million in Federal Child Nutrition Program funds,” the news release said.

The arrest was made days after the FBI added Ereg to its new Most Wanted Fraudsters List, which was announced by the DOJ and FBI on June 4, as a means to combat federal welfare fraud across the United States.

“This case sends a clear message: being outside the United States does not place you beyond the reach of HSI [Homeland Security Investigations] and our law enforcement partners. Our commitment is unwavering: those who exploit programs intended to support children and families will be identified, investigated, and brought to justice here in Minnesota,” FBI Minneapolis Field Office Special Agent in Charge Christopher D. Dotson said in a statement.

Feeding Our Future had claimed it helped provide millions of meals to children in need during the pandemic. The Justice Department, however, said the program was the “single largest COVID-19 fraud scheme in the country.”

A federal program that typically fed children through schools was changed during the pandemic to allow restaurants to participate, and food distribution was extended to sites outside schools.

State auditors found that the Minnesota Department of Education received numerous complaints about Feeding Our Future, but the state often told the group to police itself. In January, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, a onetime Democratic vice presidential candidate, said he would not run for reelection after being criticized by the Trump administration for the theft in programs that rely on federal cash.

Trump last year blasted Minnesota as “a hub of fraudulent money laundering activity” as his administration ramped up efforts to combat what officials say are fraud, waste, and abuse.

“Somali gangs are terrorizing the people of that great State, and BILLIONS of Dollars are missing. Send them back to where they came from,” Trump wrote at the time on Truth Social.

After Trump’s remark, Walz and other state leaders mounted a defense of the Somali community in Minnesota.

“Demonizing an entire community, folks who are in the professions, educators, artists, doctors, lawyers, entrepreneurs, they bring the diversity and the energy to a place like Minnesota,” the governor said last year in an NBC News interview.

In May, the former operator of Feeding Our Future, Aimee Bock, was sentenced to nearly 42 years in prison. She was convicted of conspiracy, fraud, and bribery as investigators said she and co-conspirators enriched themselves with international travel, real estate, luxury vehicles, and other lavish spending by using ill-begotten funds from the child nutrition program.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.