In a shock transfer Wednesday, one of many defendants within the Feeding Our Future trial took the stand in his personal protection.
After 4 weeks of prosecution testimony, six of the seven individuals accused of stealing $47 million from federal little one vitamin applications selected to not name any witnesses or testify themselves.
However Mukhtar Shariff took the other tack. Earlier than Shariff testified late within the afternoon, his attorneys known as eight witnesses to bolster their argument that Shariff's former firm, Afrique Hospitality, was a respectable enterprise serving actual meals to actual kids through the COVID-19 pandemic. COVID.
Federal prosecutors allege that Shariff and his co-defendants, who’ve ties to a restaurant in Shakopee, falsely claimed reimbursement for 18 million meals from two authorities meals applications, funneled the proceeds by a collection of shell corporations and spent the cash on automobiles, actual property and luxurious objects.
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The alleged bribery, the Minnesota U.S. Legal professional's Workplace says, is a part of a a lot bigger conspiracy to fleece taxpayers of $250 million by exploiting exemptions from guidelines that allowed eating places to take part within the eating applications. Of the 70 individuals charged in associated instances, 18 have pleaded responsible.
Prosecutors allege that Shariff falsely claimed to have served as much as three,500 meals a day on the Dar Al Farooq Islamic Heart in Bloomington and close by Oak Grove Excessive Faculty. In the beginning of the trial, Dinna Wade-Ardley, who heads the Workplace of Instructional Fairness in Bloomington Public Colleges, testified that Shariff's claims appeared extreme.
Dar Al Farooq members and workers testified that they noticed meals bought by Shariff's firm distributed from a big truck within the mosque's parking zone throughout 2021.
Protection legal professional Kaitlyn Falk requested Abdikadir Haji, who works on the Dar Al Farooq college, for his response to “claims that no meals was served” on the mosque.
“Individuals can say no matter they need,” Haji responded. “However I’m the witness. Each Saturday a truck handed in entrance of Dar Al Farooq and folks benefited, together with me.”
Different protection witnesses Wednesday included Jacob Steen, a land use legal professional who helped Shariff get hold of a zoning variance for Afrique Hospitality; businessman Yusuf Ali, who took over Afrique and restarted it as Zawadi Cultural Heart after Shariff was indicted; and Derek Czapiewski, a gross sales guide for meals distributor Sysco, who testified that Shariff's firm bought $1.6 million value of meals in 2021.
Prosecutors allege that whereas the defendants could have used a few of the cash from vitamin applications to buy meals, a big portion went to restaurant operations and never kids's meals. The federal government additionally maintains that Shariff used greater than $900,000 in federal vitamin funds to construct Afrique Hospitality.
Later Wednesday, throughout cross-examination by protection legal professional Frederick Goetz, Shariff informed jurors about immigrating to the USA from a Somali refugee camp in Kenya when he was 5 as one in all 17 siblings and half-siblings, residing other than relations. shut once I was slightly boy in Boston. and develop as much as begin a number of companies whereas working in Seattle's tech trade.
Shariff, 33, waived his proper to stay silent and is predicted to be questioned by prosecutors on Thursday.