Minnesota's $250 million Feeding Our Future fraud scandal has been making headlines for months.
Federal prosecutors have charged 78 people in the largest pandemic fraud scheme in American history.
And Ilhan Omar just made a huge mistake with one admission that's going to haunt her.
Omar's "Absolutely Not" Defense Just Made Everything Worse
When Fox News Digital asked Omar whether she regrets pushing for the MEALS Act that enabled the fraud, she didn't hesitate.
"Absolutely not, it did help feed kids," Omar told reporter Nicholas Ballasy on Capitol Hill.¹
Wait, it gets worse.
Federal prosecutors say only 3% of the money actually went to feeding kids.²
The other 97% went straight into criminals' pockets.
Omar introduced the MEALS Act — Maintaining Essential Access to Lunch for Students — on March 11, 2020.
The bill was supposed to help schools provide meals during COVID closures.
Instead, it eliminated the oversight measures designed to catch fraud in federal child nutrition programs.
Omar's bill created the exact conditions that allowed criminals to steal a quarter-billion dollars meant for children.
Minnesota state officials spotted early signs of fraud in July 2019 — months before the pandemic even started.²
They began documenting what they called "concerning behavior" from Aimee Bock, the woman who would later be convicted as the mastermind behind Feeding Our Future.
But after the MEALS Act passed, the scheme exploded.
Federal prosecutors allege that only around 3% of the funding granted to Feeding Our Future meal sites was actually spent on food.³
The rest went straight into the pockets of conspirators who used it to buy mansions, high-end vehicles, and fund extravagant shopping sprees at stores like Nordstrom.
The Fraud Numbers Tell A Story Omar Doesn't Want Anyone To Hear
Feeding Our Future claimed to operate 299 "meal sites" serving 90 million meals in less than two years.
That's more than 120,000 meals every single day.
One site the FBI surveilled claimed to serve 6,000 meals daily.
Know how many people actually showed up? Around 40.
Another defendant claimed his site in tiny Pelican Rapids served 6,000 meals every day — more than double the town's entire population of children and adults combined.⁴
The conspirators didn't even try to make the fraud look believable.
They submitted fraudulent invoices, fake attendance records, and phony rosters.
Salim Ahmed Said — who co-owned Safari Restaurant where Omar held her 2018 congressional victory party — used stolen federal funds to buy a $2 million Minneapolis mansion.
He spent $9,000 per month at Nordstrom.⁵
You read that right. The guy who hosted Omar's victory celebration stole millions meant for hungry kids and blew it on luxury shopping sprees.
As of November 2025, prosecutors have charged 78 individuals with 59 convicted so far.⁶
Federal investigations have expanded to other COVID fraud schemes in Minnesota involving housing assistance and behavioral health services.
The total stolen? More than $1 billion.⁷
And Omar still says "absolutely not" when asked if she has regrets.
Omar's Personal Connections To The Fraud Keep Getting Worse
Guhaad Hashi Said, Omar's former campaign official, pleaded guilty in August to running a fake food site.
He claimed 5,000 meals served daily while pocketing millions.⁵
Said worked as an "enforcer" on Omar's 2018 and 2020 campaigns, overseeing Somali community voter turnout.
Omar herself is a Somali refugee who came to America as a child.
Most of the 78 individuals charged are from Minnesota's Somali diaspora — the largest in the United States — though mastermind Aimee Bock is not Somali.
Here's the thing — Omar pushed legislation removing safeguards, criminals from her community exploited those gaps, her campaign workers got convicted, and she has zero regrets.
President Trump launched investigations into whether taxpayer dollars were diverted to terrorist organization al-Shabaab, according to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.⁶
Trump terminated deportation protections for hundreds of Somali migrants, citing Minnesota as a "hub of money laundering activity."
The Money Trail Leads Straight Back To Omar
Omar came to Congress in 2019 drowning in debt with a negative net worth of $45,000.
Six years later? Her household net worth hit as much as $30 million.⁷
Most comes from husband Tim Mynett's winery and venture capital firm — businesses valued at just $51,000 combined in 2023 that suddenly jumped to $30 million one year later.
She earns $174,000 annually while constantly complaining about student loan debt.
Omar keeps insisting she's "barely worth thousands."
Her financial disclosures say otherwise.
She has zero regrets about eliminating oversight that enabled the largest pandemic fraud in U.S. history, zero regrets about a quarter-billion stolen from hungry children, and zero regrets about her campaign workers getting convicted.
That tells you everything about Ilhan Omar's priorities.
¹ Deirdre Heavey, Breanne Deppisch, Charles Creitz, "Ilhan Omar defends MEALS Act despite ties to massive Minnesota fraud scheme," Fox News, December 19, 2025.
² "Minnesota officials saw signs of massive fraud even before COVID hit," CBS News, December 5, 2025.
³ "Feeding Our Future," Wikipedia, December 17, 2025.
⁴ "78th Defendant Charged in Feeding Our Future Fraud Scheme," Department of Justice, November 21, 2025.
⁵ "Omar allies tied to massive Minnesota COVID meal fraud scheme involving Somali community," Yahoo News, December 4, 2025.
⁶ Ibid.
⁷ Ibid.
⁸ "Minnesota officials saw signs of massive fraud even before COVID hit," CBS News, December 5, 2025.
⁹ "Feeding Our Future," Wikipedia, December 17, 2025.
¹⁰ "Omar allies tied to massive Minnesota COVID meal fraud scheme involving Somali community," Yahoo News, December 4, 2025.
¹¹ Heavey, Deppisch, Creitz, Fox News.
¹² "Ilhan Omar's net worth jumps to $30 million after denying wealth claims," Fox News, September 2, 2025.
