US Man Involved in a $250 Million Fraud Scheme to Forfeit Properties He Acquired in Kenya

A man in Minnesota, USA has pleaded guilty to his role in the $250 million fraud scheme that exploited a federally-funded child nutrition program during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Liban Yasin Alishire, 43, of Brooklyn Park, used two organizations named Community Enhancement Services and Lake Street Kitchen to enroll in the Federal Child Nutrition Program as purported sites providing meals to underprivileged children under the sponsorship of Feeding Our Future, according to court documents.

Alishire admitted that after enrolling in the program, he submitted fraudulent claims for reimbursement for serving meals to hundreds or thousands of children a day, the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Minnesota said.

He falsified invoices to document the purchase of food, and the preparation and submission of falsified attendance rosters purporting to document the names of children who received meals. 

Alishire also operated a distribution company named Ace Distribution Services that purported to provide meals to be served to children at the Community Enhancement Services site.

Community Enhancement Services claimed to have served over 800,000 meals between February and October 2021 while Lake Street Kitchen claimed to have served more than 70,000 meals between December 2020 and April 2021.

But in reality, the two organizations served a fraction of the meal amounts claimed. The two organizations fraudulently received more than a million dollars in Federal Child Nutrition Program funds from their sponsor entity, Feeding Our Future. 

Alishire transferred most of this money to himself and others via shell companies used to receive and launder the proceeds of the fraud scheme.

Hoodo Properties was one of the shell companies that Alishire controlled and used to launder proceeds from the fraud scheme, court documents show. 

On or about November 22nd, 2021, Alishire made a wire transfer of $216,300 from Hoodo Properties to Jaafar Jelle & Co. towards the purchase of the Karibu Palms Resort in Diani Beach, Kenya.

In total, Alishire fraudulently claimed approximately $2,427,576.17 in Federal Child Nutrition Program funds, of which Feeding Our Future paid out $1,783,786.45 to him and his co-conspirators. Alishire obtained a total of $712,084.00 in fraud proceeds for himself and the entities he controlled.

He pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and one count of money laundering before US District Judge Nancy E. Brasel on Tuesday.

As part of his plea agreement, Alishire will forfeit a boat and trailer, a Ford F150 pickup truck, an apartment unit in Nairobi, Kenya, and the Karibu Palms Resort on the Indian Ocean in Kenya. He also agreed to a $712,084.00 forfeiture money judgment.