Fraudster Salim Said Sentenced to 30 Years & What About Ilhan?

Minnesota former Safari Restaurant co‑owner Salim Said was sentenced to 30 years in federal prison. Prosecutors called him an architect of a $44 million fraud scheme. He defrauded federally funded child nutrition programs.

According to the U.S. government, Said and nonprofit founder Aimee Bock were the central organizers of the “Feeding Our Future” scheme. Bock received a 42-year sentence.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the program accepted for-profit restaurants as food program sites and was used to falsely claim millions in federal funds by submitting fraudulent meal counts, fabricated child rosters, and false invoices.

Salim Said operated Safari Restaurant in Minneapolis, which specialized in Somali dishes. He claimed to serve a ridiculous 6,000 meals to children each day. The money funded his extravagant lifestyle. He bought a $1.2 million home, commercial real estate, and an $87,000 pickup truck. Prosecutors say he had a $9,000-a-month shopping habit at Nordstrom.

Numerous complaints were filed, but the Minnesota administration under Governor Tim Walz ignored them.

The Omar Connection

There are some ties to Rep. Ilhan Omar, who is under investigation in D.C. Ilhan Omar’s deputy district director, Ali Isse, rushed to defend the fraudsters.

According to prosecutorial documents, Rep. Ilhan Omar, who knew the fraudsters, has not been directly linked to the scandal. Consequently, we are not saying Ilhan Omar had anything to do with his scheme. However, the following is likely why she is under investigation.

There is some smoke here.

First, Omar held political events at Safari Restaurant. It was one of the scheme’s main hubs. She personally knew co-owner Salim Ahmed Said. Said stole over $12 million by claiming to serve nearly 4 million nonexistent meals.

Second, “[Rep. Omar] knew who these people were. People she personally knew were making tens of millions of dollars in this program,” Bill Glahn, a policy fellow with the Minnesota-based Center of the American Experiment, told The Post.

Lastly, the 2020 MEALS Act, introduced by Omar, enabled the fraud by dramatically loosening oversight. Under the act, Feeding Our Future — the now-defunct nonprofit at the center of the scam — funneled hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars to fraudulent operations with almost no verification. Oma’r campaign received over $7,000 from three of the fraudsters, but returned the money.

Image: AI Grok