It would seem that Minnesota leads the nation in the production of international fugitives from justice.
From the FBI’s Minneapolis field office,
Our Burnsville Man was apprehended in Mogadishu, Somalia, after more than four years on the run from federal fraud charges. There is probably a Netflix miniseries embedded in that last sentence.
Eidleh is Defendant No. 2 (out of 80) in the sprawling Feeding Our Future scandal, and is described as the right-hand man to Aimee Bock, Feeding’s CEO and Defendant No. 1 in the case. He is alleged to have taken in $5 million in bribes and payments from the federal child nutrition program.
Of course, his capture is national news,
- CNN: Minnesota man accused in a $250M fraud scheme taken into custody in Somalia
- Fox News: Minnesota man captured in Somalia after allegedly helping orchestrate $250M child nutrition fraud scheme
- New York Post: ‘Central figure’ in $250M Minnesota fraud case arrested hiding out in Somalia
“Minnesota Man”? Home is where the heart is, I suppose.
Eagle-eyed readers may recall seeing Eidleh’s name in the New York Post story from last month, under the headline,
Ilhan Omar’s name came up six times in $250M fraud case — after she loosened oversight of fed funded food programs
The Post repoted,
A few days after Bock’s email to Omar, on Feb. 28, Bock exchanged messages with Abdikerm Eidleh, a Feeding Our Future employee who fled the country after he was indicted in 2022. The subject line of their emails was “Ilhan’s Office,” according to the court documents.
Minneapolis to Mogadishu, it’s a small world, after all.
