Ayan Jama, Wire Fraud and Money Laundering, Minnesota 2022

Ayan Jama's $250 Million Scam Exposed

Ayan Jama, 45, a Rochester woman, pleaded guilty to her role in the $250 million fraud scheme that exploited a federally funded child nutrition program during the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to the FBI, Jama knowingly participated in a scheme to defraud a federal child nutrition program designed to provide free meals to children in need. From approximately December 2020 through January 2022, Jama and her co-conspirators claimed Brava Restaurant was serving approximately 2,000 to 3,000 daily breakfasts and lunches to children, for which they fraudulently claimed and received millions of dollars in federal child nutrition program funds.

Jama, one of the principals of Brava Rochester in Rochester, Minnesota, created fake attendance rosters purporting to list the names of children who purportedly received their food at sites. These rosters were fraudulent in that the names on them were fake or did not correctly reflect the number of children that were fed.

Based on these fraudulent claims, Feeding Our Future paid out over $5.3 million in federal child nutrition program reimbursements for meals purportedly served to children by Jama and her co-conspirators. Jama's Brava Restaurant ultimately received $4.3 million directly from Feeding Our Future and over $900,000 from Safari Restaurant, co-owned by Salim Said.

Jama used the federal child nutrition funds to pay for personal expenditures unrelated to feeding children, including $254,041 to purchase a home located in Rochester, Minnesota, $168,000 to purchase a home located in Columbus, Ohio, and $356,795 to purchase property on the Mediterranean Coast in Alanya, Turkey.

Jama pleaded guilty last Friday in U.S. District Court before Chief Judge Patrick J. Schiltz to one count of wire fraud and one count of money laundering. Her sentencing hearing will be scheduled at a later date.

The case is the result of an investigation by the FBI, IRS – Criminal Investigations, and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Matthew S. Ebert, Joseph H. Thompson, and Harry M. Jacobs are prosecuting the case.

Ayan Jama, Defendant: 45, Rochester, Minnesota

Criminal Charges: Wire Fraud and Money Laundering

City and State: Rochester, Minnesota

Crime Date: Approximately December 2020 through January 2022

Sentence: Pending sentencing hearing

Dollar Amounts: Over $5.3 million in federal child nutrition program reimbursements, $4.3 million received by Brava Restaurant, and over $900,000 received by Safari Restaurant

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-mn/pr/rochester-woman-pleads-guilty-wire-fraud-money-laundering-feeding-our-future-scheme