A former campaign associate of Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar has admitted to playing a central role in a sweeping federal fraud scheme that siphoned millions of dollars from a child nutrition program designed to help families during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Federal prosecutors announced that Guhaad Hashi Said, 49, pleaded guilty this week to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering. Said, who once had ties to Omar’s political campaigns, is the 52nd defendant convicted in the Feeding Our Future scandal — the largest pandemic-era fraud uncovered in Minnesota to date.

Prosecutors: “Fraud on a staggering scale”
“The conviction of the 52nd defendant in the Feeding Our Future case is yet another reminder of the vast reach of this fraud and the scale of the crisis we face in Minnesota,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Joseph H. Thompson.

“These crimes are not isolated events. They are part of a web of schemes targeting programs that are intended to lift up Minnesotans and bleeding them dry. From where I sit, the scale of the fraud in Minnesota is staggering, and every rock we turn over reveals more.”