A federal judge sent Salim Said to prison for 30 years for his central role in stealing money meant to feed hungry children.
Story Highlights
- U.S. District Judge Nancy Brasel sentenced Said to 30 years in federal prison on Wednesday, October 28.
- Safari claimed to serve thousands of meals a day, but FBI surveillance counted an average of about 40 people a day picking up food.
- A jury convicted Said on all 21 counts, including wire fraud, bribery and money laundering.
- Prosecutors say Said and others tied to his Safari Restaurant stole $44 million from federal child-meal programs.
- He must pay back more than $44 million, and prosecutors had asked for 40 years.
Judge Hands Down 30 Years In Federal Prison
Said, 37, co-owned the former Safari Restaurant on Lake Street in Minneapolis. The judge gave him 30 years because a jury found he used the restaurant to file fake meal claims and cash in on a federal program that was supposed to feed needy children during the COVID-19 pandemic. He must also serve three years of supervised release, which means he will be watched by a probation officer after he leaves prison.
The case is part of the Feeding Our Future scandal. Feeding Our Future was a Minnesota nonprofit that signed up meal sites for federal child-nutrition programs and passed along the government’s payments. Prosecutors say its founder, Aimee Bock, led a scheme to steal from those programs, and the total fraud has been put at $250 million. The judge sentenced Bock in May to nearly 42 years in prison.
“You took more than taxpayer money to enrich yourself,” Brasel told Said. “You took the reputation of our state down with you.” She added, “It is my hope that one day the words Minnesota and fraud will not be spoken in the same sentence.”
How Prosecutors Said The Scam Worked
Safari claimed to serve thousands of meals a day. FBI surveillance at Safari and other sites showed an average of about 40 people a day picking up food. At the height of the scheme, prosecutors said, Said personally sent in 6,000 phony meal claims for Safari. Prosecutors said he took about $13 million for himself.
Jurors also found that Said paid off the woman at the top. They found he used a $310,000 purchase of a Burnsville childcare center from Bock, a center that was not running, to hide a kickback to her. A kickback is a secret payment made in return for a favor. “Why bribe the ringleader if you don’t benefit from doing so?” Assistant U.S. Attorney Rebecca Kline asked the court. Prosecutors said Said also bribed a Feeding Our Future employee.
Prosecutors said the stolen money paid for a mansion of about $1 million on Park Avenue in Minneapolis, a fleet of high-end vehicles and other luxury goods. Said also spread the scheme to food sites in Willmar, St. Cloud and Mankato through another nonprofit, according to prosecutors.
What Said And His Lawyer Told The Court
Said’s lawyer, Barry Zone, asked for 12 years. He argued that Said never held Bock’s power over the money. “Ms. Bock signed every check. Ms. Bock was the gatekeeper of all the money,” Zone said. He also told the court about Said’s hard childhood in Somalia, where he fled civil war and lived in refugee camps in Kenya before coming to the United States.
The judge called that history “absolutely tragic,” but she said she could not connect it to the greed behind the fraud. She noted Said had a good restaurant job and was not in a tough spot with money. Said spoke briefly before he was sentenced. “I’m deeply sorry for the actions and my involvement in this very serious case,” he said.
What He Loses
Said must pay more than $44 million in restitution, which is money a court orders a person to pay back to those he cheated. The judge had already ordered him to forfeit, or give up, $7.8 million, two 2021 vehicles, real estate in Minneapolis and Plymouth, and a commercial building in Columbus, Ohio. Said is a legal permanent resident, so he could also face deportation. His 30-year term is the third longest of the 32 people sentenced so far in the case.
Sources:
mprnews.org, startribune.com, fox9.com, apnews.com, kaaltv.com
