What was charged
The businesses prosecutors charged, grouped by which nonprofit sponsored them, and the dollar amounts stated in court filings. These are allegations, not payment records. The checkbook payments have their own page.
What prosecutors say happened after the sponsor was paid
The payments page stops at the sponsor. Each business below appears because a court record ties it to a stated amount.
Prosecutors allege sponsors reimbursed meal sites and vendors for meals that were never served, based on fake attendance rosters and inflated invoices, as described in charging documents and at trial. Primary source:U.S. Attorney, Minnesota
Prosecutors say Safari Restaurant, a Feeding Our Future site, received over $16 million. Its co-owner Salim Said was convicted by a jury on all counts in March 2025. Secondary source:KSTP Primary source:U.S. Attorney, Minnesota
Court records tie Haji's Kitchen, sponsored by Partners in Nutrition, to more than $11 million. Its principal pleaded guilty to wire fraud in September 2024. Characterization source:Star Tribune Secondary source:CCX Media
These steps establish relationships documented in court records. They do not trace specific dollars.
The businesses charged, by sponsor
Each amount is the figure a court record states for that business. They overlap and are not a total.
Sponsored under Feeding Our Future
Feeding Our Future sponsored more than 250 meal sites. Most organizations involved with it have not been directly accused of wrongdoing.
Feeding Our Future scheme as described when the first defendants were charged
Safari Restaurant
Minneapolis restaurant and Feeding Our Future meal site
Prosecutors’ figure for Safari Restaurant
Organizations controlled by Salim Said, funds received
A wider scope than the restaurant alone. The two figures overlap, so they cannot be added together.
- Salim SaidConvicted
Sponsored under Partners in Nutrition
Partners in Nutrition itself was never criminally charged. The charged proceeds ran through vendors and sites it sponsored. In September 2026 it settled a state civil False Claims Act suit for about $18.5 million and agreed to dissolve, denying the allegations.
Charged proceeds tied to Partners in Nutrition, Star Tribune review
Empire Cuisine & Market
Shakopee restaurant and catering business, sponsored by Partners in Nutrition per court records and charged within the Feeding Our Future investigation
Empire Cuisine & Market, received from Partners in Nutrition
Empire Cuisine and Haji’s Kitchen combined, per prosecutors
A combined figure for two businesses (Empire plus Haji’s Kitchen). It overlaps the figure for each business and cannot be added to them.
- Abdiaziz Shafii FarahSentenced
Connected to both sponsors
The FBI figure for this vendor covers money from both sponsors, so it is listed separately.
S&S Catering
Vendor named in the January 2022 civil forfeiture complaint
S&S Catering, federal funds received per the FBI-verified forfeiture complaint
The complaint’s figure covers funds from both sponsors and other program participants, so it cannot be split by sponsor.
The person who ran it is not among this site’s selected defendants. The rule for who is listed is on that page.
Haji’s Kitchen
Brooklyn Park vendor whose principal’s companies also included U.S. Halal Foods
Haji’s Kitchen (Haji Salad), funds received under Feeding Our Future and a second sponsor
The U.S. Attorney’s release names the sponsors as Feeding Our Future and an unnamed “Sponsor A”; the Star Tribune reports the money came from Partners in Nutrition. The release does not split the amount by sponsor.
- Haji Osman SaladPleaded guilty
Additional charged entities are not shown. No amount is invented for them, and the cards above are not additive because figures overlap across vintages and scopes.
Who is listed here, and why
Who appears here, and why
- The business has a dollar amount stated in court records or charging documents, quoted in a source listed on the sources page.
- Every person shown has at least one documented proceeding (charge, plea, verdict, sentencing, or appeal) backed by a government release or established reporting.
- Businesses that prosecutors or trial coverage described as central to a scheme come before peripheral defendants.
- People are added one by one as their proceedings are verified. The list is short on purpose, and nobody is added without a source.
- Uncharged businesses and people (except sponsors named for payment context, with their uncharged status stated).
- People known only from a headcount in news reports.
This site's tracker documents 38 people, data through October 7, 2026. It is not a complete roster of everyone charged. The roster was last reviewed October 11, 2026.
People charged but not convicted are presumed innocent, and amounts labeled alleged come from charging documents, not proven losses. Method and corrections
Written by Dan Swenson, an attorney who serves on the Nowthen City Council, in his personal capacity. It is not an official publication of the City of Nowthen or any other government.