A Golden Valley man has entered a guilty plea concerning his involvement in a fraudulent scheme that aimed to siphon funds from a federal child nutrition program meant to feed children during the COVID-19 pandemic. The accused, Ahmed Mohamed Artan, age 40, is facing charges of wire fraud and is facing consequences for this, his forty-sixth conviction, as reported by the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Artan entered his guilty plea in the U.S. District Court with Judge Eric C. Tostrud presiding, setting the stage for a sentencing hearing that will be scheduled at a later date, the U.S. Attorney's Office states. His plea joins a series of legal proceedings that stem from an expansive investigation conducted by the FBI, IRS – Criminal Investigations, and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service; a network of scams that aimed to nourish children during an era of crisis.
Operating within a web of deception, court documents reveal that he and his co-conspirators utilized a nonprofit organization, Stigma-Free International, and a tangle of shell companies to create fraudulent meal sites across Minnesota. These sites claimed to serve countless meals to children daily, but the submitted meal count sheets, invoices, and attendance rosters detailing the names of supposed beneficiaries were counterfeit, according to court documentation.
The group's fraudulent activities funneled approximately $1,682,664 in Federal Child Nutrition Program funds into illegitimate hands. Adding to the deception, these funds were siphoned through a shell company called Five A’s Projects LLC, where they were used to acquire a bar and restaurant, with this property now set to be confiscated by the U.S. government. This criminal endeavor, spanning 12 months, represents a blatant misappropriation of government funds and a stark abuse of trust.
The prosecutors in this case, Assistant U.S. Attorneys Matthew S. Ebert, Harry M. Jacobs, and Daniel W. Bobier, are leading the justice charge. Assistant U.S. Attorney Craig Baune is handling the seizure and forfeiture proceedings with oversight from Acting U.S. Attorney Joseph H. Thompson. Collectively, they are piecing together a narrative of exploitation and greed that operated under the guise of charity within society’s most vulnerable period in recent memory.
