Abdiaziz Shafii Farah, Abdimajid Mohamed Nur, Said Shafii Farah, Abdulkarim Shafii Farah and Ladan Mohamed Ali were charged on Wednesday with allegedly attempting to bribe a Minnesota juror with $120,000 in one of the nation’s largest COVID-19-related fraud cases.
Five people were charged on Wednesday for allegedly trying to bribe a Minnesota juror in one of the nation’s largest COVID-19-related fraud cases — by dumping a “present” of $120,000 at her doorstep.
Abdiaziz Shafii Farah, Abdimajid Mohamed Nur, Said Shafii Farah, Abdulkarim Shafii Farah and Ladan Mohamed Ali, allegedly teamed up to bribe one of the jurors hearing the $250 million fraud trial against three of them.
Minnesota US Attorney Andrew Luger described the bribery plot as “something out of a mob movie,” where the five people allegedly tracked down the juror and left $120,000 at her house inside a Hallmark gift bag, with a promise of more to come if she voted to acquit.
Abdiaziz, Said and Nur were among seven defendants, all of whom are of East African descent, who were tried for stealing more than $250 million from a COVID-19 relief program that was supposed to feed children during the pandemic.
