'We Got Him': Acting Attorney General Tood Blanche Announces MAJOR Arrest After Years-Long Manhunt
Federal authorities announced Saturday that Abdikerm Abdelahi Eidleh, 42, of Burnsville, Minnesota, was arrested Thursday in Mogadishu, Somalia, after spending nearly three years as a fugitive from justice.
Eidleh was indicted in September 2022 as one of the original defendants in the sprawling Feeding Our Future fraud investigation.
He faces 31 federal charges, including conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to commit federal programs bribery, federal programs bribery, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and money laundering.
Assistant Attorney General Colin McDonald said Eidleh allegedly stole taxpayer funds intended to provide meals to vulnerable children before fleeing to Somalia to avoid prosecution in the United States.
According to court records, Eidleh was a former employee of Feeding Our Future, the Minnesota nonprofit at the center of the fraud scheme.
Prosecutors allege he played a key role in recruiting participants and coordinating the operation by enlisting business owners to establish fraudulent child meal distribution sites operating under the nonprofit’s sponsorship through the federal Child Nutrition Program.
According to prosecutors, the fraudulent meal sites submitted reimbursement claims for meals that were never provided to children.
Federal authorities allege Eidleh operated a pay-to-play scheme in which site operators paid bribes and kickbacks to participate in the program.
Court filings cite one operator who allegedly paid about $30,000 a month in kickbacks, with some payments reportedly verified through video calls, while another allegedly paid a total of $150,000, including a demanded 5% share of federal reimbursements.
Prosecutors say Eidleh threatened to terminate contracts if operators failed to make the required payments.
Investigators also allege Eidleh instructed participants to inflate meal counts and submit fraudulent invoices for food that was never purchased.
According to prosecutors, more than $5 million in alleged kickbacks, bribes and fraud proceeds was deposited into bank accounts controlled through shell companies.
The broader Feeding Our Future investigation centers on the alleged misuse of federal Child Nutrition Program funds during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Feeding Our Future, a Minnesota nonprofit founded and led by Aimee Bock, sponsored more than 250 meal distribution sites throughout the state.
Bock was sentenced in May to 500 months (more than 41 years) in prison for her role in the $250 million fraud scheme.
Federal reimbursements to Feeding Our Future increased dramatically, rising from approximately $3.4 million in 2019 to nearly $200 million in 2021.
Prosecutors allege that operators at numerous meal sites submitted fraudulent reimbursement claims for meals that were never served, with portions of the proceeds allegedly funneled back through bribes and kickbacks.
Authorities estimate the overall fraud scheme involved roughly $250 million in federal funds.
Federal prosecutors have charged at least 79 individuals in connection with the investigation through multiple indictments. As of early 2026, more than 60 defendants had either pleaded guilty or been convicted.
Feeding Our Future founder and former executive director Bock was tried alongside co-defendant Salim Said.
During sentencing, the presiding judge described the case as a “fraud vortex” with Bock at its center, concluding that a lesser sentence would not adequately serve the interests of justice for the people of Minnesota.
The court also ordered Bock to pay substantial restitution to the federal government. She will also serve three years on supervised release following her prison sentence.
Eidleh is expected to be returned to the United States to face the charges pending against him.
His arrest follows the capture of other defendants linked to the case and marks the culmination of a years-long effort by U.S. and international law enforcement authorities to locate and apprehend him.
The Feeding Our Future investigation remains one of the Justice Department’s largest prosecutions involving alleged fraud tied to pandemic-era relief programs.
According to charging documents, prosecutors allege Eidleh played a significant operational role in establishing and maintaining the network of vendors and meal sites that authorities say formed the foundation of the fraud scheme.
Investigators allege that Eidleh, a fluent Somali speaker with strong ties to the local Somali community, helped recruit participants, facilitate enrollment and ensure compliance with the fraudulent reporting practices used to obtain federal reimbursements.
Trump Admin Says It Uncovered $10 Billion Obamacare Fraud Scheme
The Trump administration says it has uncovered what it describes as a massive fraud scheme within the Affordable Care Act.
Members of Trump’s administration allege that roughly $10 billion in taxpayer money was improperly paid out between 2021 and 2024 because of weakened enrollment safeguards under former President Joe Biden.
According to a Department of Health and Human Services report, officials have already removed nearly three million fraudulent or improper Obamacare enrollments and estimate another 2.6 million questionable enrollments remain.
Administration officials say the findings are part of a broader government-wide effort to eliminate fraud, waste, and abuse across federal programs.
The report traces the alleged problems to changes made during the Biden administration that expanded enrollment opportunities while relaxing income verification and eligibility checks.
At the start of Biden’s presidency, approximately 10 million people were enrolled through the Affordable Care Act exchanges. By 2024, enrollment had surged to roughly 22 million.
Federal investigators now believe millions of those enrollments were improper, fraudulent, or created without the knowledge of the individuals involved.
“By our estimate, improper, phantom, and fraudulent enrollment peaked at 5.6 million people in 2025,” the report states.
“We estimate 2.6 million improper and phantom enrollments remain, including over 1 million enrollments without a Social Security number.”
According to the report, several different forms of abuse contributed to the alleged fraud.
Officials say some applicants intentionally understated their income to qualify for larger taxpayer-funded subsidies.
Others allegedly received premium assistance despite failing to meet eligibility requirements.
Investigators also identified what they describe as “phantom enrollments,” in which insurance brokers allegedly enrolled people in Obamacare plans without their knowledge to collect federal commissions.
The report argues that reduced verification requirements made those practices significantly easier to carry out.
Since taking office, the Trump administration says it has restored stricter income verification requirements, ended several special enrollment periods, increased screening for duplicate Medicaid enrollment, and launched investigations into brokers suspected of creating phantom policies.
Officials also say they have strengthened oversight of agents participating in the federal marketplace.
As a result of those efforts, nearly three million enrollments have already been removed from the Affordable Care Act exchanges.
Even after those removals, approximately 19.2 million people remain enrolled.
The administration says its goal is not to reduce legitimate coverage but to ensure taxpayer dollars are being spent only on individuals who actually qualify.
“Preserving the fiscal and programmatic integrity of the ACA Exchanges is key to safeguarding taxpayer-funded resources for those that truly need them,” the report states.
“The federal government paying brokers to enroll individuals without their knowledge is not.”
The report also says the administration will continue pursuing additional enforcement actions against brokers and others accused of exploiting the program.
“The Trump Administration continues to aggressively root out fraud, waste, abuse, and corruption by promulgating new regulations to improve program integrity, investigating suspected improper or fraudulent enrollment, and taking action against agents and brokers committing fraud.”
The findings are likely to reignite debate over the Affordable Care Act and how aggressively eligibility rules should be enforced.
Supporters of the administration argue the report demonstrates that stricter oversight is necessary to protect taxpayers and preserve benefits for those legally entitled to receive them.
Critics of previous verification rollbacks have long warned that loosening enrollment safeguards could increase improper payments and fraud, while supporters of the Biden-era policies argued the changes made healthcare more accessible to eligible Americans, Fox News reported exclusively.
The administration says its investigations remain ongoing, with an estimated 2.6 million additional enrollments still under review as officials continue auditing the federal health insurance exchanges.
Trump has been pushing to replace Obamacare for over a decade, and this may give Republicans enough motivation to actually do something.
