Ilhan Omar's links to Somali food fraud scheme in Minnesota revealed
New details reveal Ilhan Omar's links to those convicted in the Somali fraud case in Minnesota.
The progressive Somali-born congresswoman has connections to at least two convicted food fraudsters.
The Trump administration is investigating whether the millions fraudulently obtained were then funneled to terrorist organizations, including Somalia-based Al-Shabaab.
Salim Ahmed Said, 33, is the owner of Safari Restaurant, which is where Omar held her 2018 campaign victory party.
He was convicted in March 2025 on 21 counts including wire fraud, federal programs bribery and money laundering. He pocketed $5 million from the scheme funneling money through Feeding Our Future for his own enrichments rather than for the child nutrition program.
He is facing decades in prison and is one of the more than 70 defendants charged in the sweeping case. There are 45 convictions so far.
Additionally, Omar campaign official Guhaad Hashi Said, pleaded guilty in August to running fake food site Advance Youth Athletic Development, and pocketing $3.2 million from the program.
Omar introduced the 2020 MEALS Act bill that made the $250 million fraud scheme possible.
Congresswoman Ilhan Omar held her 2018 election night party at Safari Restaurant (pictured). The owner, Salim Ahmed Said, was convicted in March 2025 on 21 counts of wire fraud, bribery and money laundering after funneling $5 million to himself through the Feeding Our Future charity
Omar's campaign staffer Guhaad Said (pictured) pleaded guilty in August 2025 to running fake food site Advance Youth Athletic Development, and pocketing $3.2 million from the program
Omar's links to the two food fraudsters show the extent of her connections to the federal scheme
Omar's ties to the $1 billion welfare scam in her Minnesota congressional district are slowly being uncovered.
Not only did she dish out funds to hold her 2018 victory party at Salim Said's restaurant, but a Minnesota-based policy fellow told the New York Post that she often frequented the Safari Restaurant.
'Rep. Omar knew who these people were. People she personally knew were making tens of millions of dollars in this program.'
'She had been inside the [Safari] facility on numerous occasions and couldn't put two and two together? Either she's terminally naive, or knew and didn't care.'
Omar's congressional office did not respond to the Daily Mail's request for comment on the new revelations about the extent of her links to the convicted.
Safari restaurant received more than $16 million in funds for 'phantom meals' that were never provided.
Prosecutors note that he spent the money he enriched himself with on a $2 million mansion in Minneapolis and a $9,000-a-month shopping habit at Nordstrom.
The Trump administration is investigating whether the fraud scheme was laundering money to Somalian-based terrorist group Al-Shabaab
Additionally, Omar campaign staffer Guhaad Said claimed he served 5,000 meals every day, but in reality was taking millions into his own coffers. He pleaded guilty to his fraud in August 2025.
He worked on Omar's 2018 and 2020 campaign as an 'enforcer' overseeing an aggressive voter mobilization strategy in the Somali community in Minneapolis.
Guhaad Said and Omar often attended the same events, according to Facebook photos of the pair together, including smiling selfies.
Some who donated to Omar's campaign received fraudulent money from the food charity scam. The congresswoman received $7,400 in donations from now-convicted fraudsters.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15353117/Ilhan-Omar-Somali-fraud-scheme-Minnesota.html
Somali refugees in Minnesota have committed the 'biggest theft of taxpayer dollars in US history' and local Democratic officials were 'fully complicit' in the scheme, White House officials declared.
Federal authorities announced this week that at least 86 people - mostly within small Somali communities in the state - have stolen more than $1 billion in public funds from programs meant to feed children, assist the homeless and provide autism therapy.
The suspects ran companies that billed Minnesota state officials for millions of dollars in social services that were never actually rendered in three separate fraud schemes.
Representative Ilhan Omar and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz had connections with at least some of the Somali refugees charged in the massive scheme.
They were also both pictured with Abdul Dahir Ibrahim, who was taken into Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody on Friday.
He had previously been convicted in Canada of asylum and welfare fraud, Fox News reports.
US Homeland Security Advisor Stephen Miller said authorities 'believe the state government is fully complicit in this scheme, and we believe that what we uncover is going to shock the American people.'
He added that the evidence federal prosecutors have already collected show that 'the Somali fraud operation in Minnesota is the single greatest theft of taxpayer dollars through welfare fraud in American history.'
Representative Ilhan Omar and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz had connections with the Somali refugees charged in the massive scheme
Millions of dollars that were fraudulently obtained were funneled to terrorist organizations, including Somalia-based Al-Shabaab.
75 percent of the Somali population in Minnesota is on welfare.
President Trump announced he was ending Temporary Protected Status for Somalis.
Ibrahim had previously been arrested for providing false information to police and driving without a valid license, a crime for which he was fined and sentenced to one year of probation.
In the years since, Ibrahim - who was also once pictured with former Minneapolis mayoral candidate Omar Fateh - has accumulated a dozen traffic or parking tickets as he repeatedly applied for asylum.
Ibrahim was also photographed with former Minneapolis mayoral candidate Omar Fateh
He was taken into custody by Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Friday
In one of his applications, the fraudster claimed his sister and her five children to be his spouse and his own kids.
But a judge cited Ibrahim's 'complete lack of credibility' in rejecting the petition, according to the New York Post.
Ibrahim also had deportation orders against him since 2004, but was still granted temporary protected status - which provided him with deportation protections for 10 years.
In announcing his arrest on Friday, the Department of Homeland Security noted that Ibrahim 'has been linked to Minnesota’s top sanctuary politicians.'
'Bye-bye, Abdul.'
Ibrahim is not the only fraudster Omar has connections with, as authorities were able to secure a conviction against 33-year-old Salim Ahmed Said, the owner of Safari Restaurant, where the woke congresswoman held her 2018 victory party.
Prosecutors have said Said pocketed $5 million by claiming to serve tens of thousands of meals to low-income children during the pandemic through the nonprofit Feeding Our Future.
Most of those meals never actually existed, authorities say, and the Safari restaurant allegedly received more than $16 million in funds for 'phantom meals.'
Said then used the money to enrich himself, with a $2 million mansion in Minneapolis and a $9,000-a-month shopping habit at Nordstrom.
The restaurant owner is now facing decades in prison.
Democrat Presidential candidate Kamala, with her VP candidate Walz, who said his administration prioritized getting money out to people as quickly as possible
Walz is seeking a third term as governor next year.
President Donald Trump has derided Walz for allowing Minnesota to become 'a hub of fraudulent money laundering activity.'
He said the perpetrators should be 'sent back to where they came from.'
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem also hit out at the governor at a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday.
'You told me to look into Minnesota and their fraud on visas and their programs,' she told Trump, before declaring that half 'are fraudulent, which means that that wacko Governor Walz either is an idiot or he did it on purpose — and I think he's both.'
President Donald Trump derided Walz for allowing Minnesota to become 'a hub of fraudulent money laundering activity.'
A key reason the fraud wasn't stopped was due to a reluctance from civil servants to go after the criminals due to their race, and being fearful of alienating the Somali community.
Feeding Our Future, the largest nonprofit participating in the program, warned that if the state didn’t fast-track approvals for 'minority-owned businesses,' it would face a lawsuit accusing officials of racism.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15358599/Somali-fraud-Minnesota-Ilhan-Omar-Tim-Walz.html
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