Somali intelligence helps US arrest alleged ringleader of Minnesota fraud

US prosecutors reach into Somalia for a key suspect in US fraud case.Mogadishu, Somalia – United States prosecutors have reached across the world to seize a leading suspect in a Minnesota fraud case, arresting him in the Somali capital, Mogadishu.Abdikerm Abdelahi Eidleh, 42, was taken into custody on Thursday, with US authorities announcing the arrest on Friday. His capture is the clearest sign yet that the pursuit of those behind the scheme has gone international.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3EU targets Somalia with visa curbs as president pushes back on returnslist 2 of 3Advocates warn of wide-ranging implications of US Supreme Court TPS rulinglist 3 of 3Israel fetes Somaliland’s leader as it seeks to expand Red Sea influenceend of listNeither US nor Somali officials have disclosed how Eidleh was located. However, the Department of Justice said his arrest was the result of cooperation between the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Somalia’s National Intelligence and Security Agency.Prosecutors describe Eidleh as the alleged second-in-command to Aimee Bock, the convicted mastermind of a scheme built around Feeding Our Future, a Minnesota nonprofit that channelled federal money meant to feed needy children during the COVID-19 pandemic.In 2022, the US charged 47 people over a roughly $250m fraud that exploited a federal child-nutrition programme, the largest pandemic-relief fraud prosecuted in the country to that point.Eidleh fled to Somalia as the scheme unravelled. Bock was recently sentenced to more than 40 years in prison.According to prosecutors, Eidleh recruited operators into the scheme and collected bribes and kickbacks, often disguised as consulting fees and funnelled through shell companies.He is accused of setting up his own meal sites under the names of stand-in owners, falsely claiming they were serving thousands of children a day, and inventing supplier firms to bill the government for food never delivered.