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5 months ago
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A juror in the trial of a group of Somalian migrants accused of swindling over $40 million from COVID funds was mysteriously offered $120,000 on the last day of the case, officials say.
Ahead of jury deliberations in the trial of seven people tied to the Feeding Our Future charity, one juror reported that a woman came to her Minneapolis home with the bribe, and said there would be more cash on the way 'if she votes to acquit.'
Prosecutors claim the defendants stole $41 million from government programs intended for hungry children, part of a wider case of over $250 million allegedly swindled through the charity in one of the largest pandemic fraud cases in the nation.
The juror reported the bribe to the local police department, who then notified the FBI, as prosecutors condemned the incident as 'outrageous' and 'the stuff that happens in mob movies.'
A juror in a Minneapolis Covid-19 fraud trial was offered $120,000 in a white gift bag at her home the day before the conclusion of the case
Seven defendants from Somalia are accused of swindling over $40 million through the charity Feeding Our Future, as part of a wider case that prosecutors called the largest pandemic fraud in the nation
The bribe has led prosecutors to issue an FBI search warrant on the defendant's phones, as they argued that 'it is highly likely that someone with access to the juror’s personal information was conspiring with, at minimum, the woman who delivered the $120,000 bribe.'
According to the Star Tribune, the woman who delivered the bribe showed up at the juror's home wearing all black shortly before 9pm.
The 23-year-old juror wasn't home at the time, however the woman spoke to their father-in-law and handed over a white gift bag stuffed with $100, $50 and $20 bills, according to the FBI search warrant filing.
The woman reportedly told the father-in-law that if the juror voted to acquit all seven defendants in the case, there would be 'more of that present tomorrow.'
They immediately reported the attempted bribe to the Spring Lake Park police department, who turned over the bag of cash to the FBI as the bureau launched an investigation into the incident.
As the trial came to a close the following day, the unnamed juror was dismissed from the case, as Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Thompson told U.S. District Judge Nancy Brasel that the incident could upend the high-profile case.
'This is outrageous behavior,' he said. 'This is stuff that happens in mob movies... This can't be allowed.'
The suspected bribe came as a womans showed up at the juror's Minneapolis home late at night, and told her that if she voted to acquit there would be 'more of that present tomorrow'
The juror immediately reported the attempted bribe to the Spring Lake Park police department, who turned over the bag of cash to the FBI as the bureau launched an investigation into the incident
Judge Nancy Brasel (pictured) responded to the case by sequestering and questioning the remaining jurors, detaining the defendants, approving an FBI search warrant on their phones, and beefing up security at the courthouse
Officials have not presented any evidence that the defendants, Said Shafii Farah, Abdiaziz Shafii Farah, Mohamed Jama Ismail, Abdimajid Mohamed Nur, Abdiwahab Maalim Aftin, Mukhtar Mohamed Shariff and Hayat Mohamed Nu, were linked to the bribe.
The incident threatens to derail the seven-week trial as it reaches its conclusion, which is part of a wider case that officials have described as the largest Covid-19 funding fraud cases in America.
In total, 70 people have been charged in the case, 18 of whom have pleaded guilty, as prosecutors say fraudsters used the Feeding Our Future charity to steal over $250 million.
The defense for the seven being charged in the bribery-related case argue that they legitimately provided meals to hungry children, while officials counter claim that they merely claimed to offer meals to fictitious children before stealing the funds.
Prosecutors say they received over $40 million for more than 18 million meals across 50 food shelters in Minnesota from 2020 to 2021, but say only about 10 percent was spent on providing food to the needy.
They 'brazenly' created shell companies to carry out the scheme, officials claimed, and allegedly filed documents of fake children while inflating prices.
FBI agents are pictured raiding the offices of Feeding Our Future, which prosecutors say was used by the defendants to swindle hundreds of millions of dollars in a wide-ranging scheme
The punishment for bribing a juror is up to 10 years in prison, and Thompson said that the threat of jurors being bribed could upend further trials for more than three dozen other defendants in the wide-ranging cases.
Thompson told the judge that the bribe 'strikes at the integrity of our system', as the judge took measures to ensure jury impartiality.
Judge Brasel sequestered the jury of 12 jurors and five alternates before questioning each person, with each juror confirming they had not been contacted by anyone outside the case.
The defendant's phones were also confiscated as the judge approved the search warrant request, and security was beefed up at the courthouse.
All seven defendants, who had been freed following their arrests in 2022, were also detained, a move that their defense attorneys argued against despite agreeing the attempted bribe was 'very troubling' and 'unprecedented.'
English (US)