Abdiaziz Shafii Farah
All Connections
9 total
All Connections
9 totalAbdiaziz Shafii Farah's Empire Cuisine & Market was the earliest and largest individual operator under FOF sponsorship. He enrolled in April 2020 and claimed $47.9M in fraudulent reimbursements across 30+ fake sites.
Abdulkarim Farah (brother of Abdiaziz Farah) coordinated the $120,000 juror bribery scheme during the April 2024 trial of seven FOF defendants. He pleaded guilty in 2025.
Abdiaziz Farah's brothers Said Shafii Farah and Abdulkarim Shafii Farah participated in the juror bribery scheme alongside him during the first trial in June 2024. Family coordination in obstruction attempt.
Abdimajid Mohamed Nur was both a trial co-defendant with Farah (first trial) and a participant in the juror bribery scheme. Nur submitted bulk fraudulent invoices in the Empire Cuisine scheme and was part of the bribery coordination.
FoF was the approved USDA sponsor whose institutional approval enabled affiliated meal site operators (Farah, Said, and 70+ others) to submit fraudulent reimbursement claims. Without FoF sponsorship the fraud pipeline could not have operated.
Co-owner; ringleader; enrolled April 2020 through Partners in Nutrition; directed 30+ fake sites; sentenced 28 years Aug 2025
Brothers; co-defendants in both 0:22-cr-00124 (fraud) and 0:24-cr-00173 (bribery); Said owns Bushra Wholesalers LLC (prosecution: launder vehicle); Said acquitted fraud, bribery pending
Brothers; Abdulkarim coordinated the $120K juror bribery attempt on Juror 52; guilty plea by May 2025
Abdiaziz Shafii Farah was among the first-wave defendants in the FoF fraud scheme. He was a key operative in the fraud and separately masterminded the juror bribery attempt during the first trial. He received the longest sentence to date: 28 years + $47.9M restitution (August 2025). His precise operational relationship to Bock requires further research from indictment documents.
All Findings
6 total
All Findings
6 totalfinancial (1)
Abdiaziz Shafii Farah sentenced to 28 years — largest FoF sentence to date — and ordered to pay $47.9M restitution and $58.4M forfeiture; personally pocketed $8M+ including lakefront mansion in Prior Lake, five luxury vehicles, and a 12-story Nairobi apartment complex
Personal profit: >$8M in 18 months. Assets: custom lakefront mansion Prior Lake MN (~$4.2M); 5 luxury vehicles in 6 months including Porsche, GMC truck, Tesla ($300K+); UAE vacation; $1M sent to build 12-story apartment complex in South C, Nairobi, Kenya. Forfeiture ordered: $58,407,513 (fraud proceeds) + $11,770,000 (money laundering). Sentence: 28 years + 3 years supervised release.
legal (5)
Primary fraud case: United States v. Farah, D. Minn. 0:22-cr-00124 (Judge Brasel), filed 2022-06-21, terminated 2025-08-11 following sentencing; bribery case: 0:24-cr-00173 (Judge Doty) still pending as of March 2026
On the eve of jury deliberations in the first FoF trial, Abdiaziz Shafii Farah and co-conspirators (including brothers Said and Abdulkarim) attempted to bribe Juror 52 with $120,000 cash — Minnesota's first federal juror bribery case in decades
Abdulkarim Shafii Farah coordinated the bribery. Target was Juror 52. Cash amount: $120,000. Five defendants indicted in 0:24-cr-00173 before Judge Doty; all five pleaded guilty by May 2025. Abdiaziz Farah pleaded guilty to juror bribery June 17, 2025; sentencing before Judge Doty pending.
During first FoF trial deliberations, Abdiaziz Farah and co-conspirators attempted to bribe a seated juror with $120,000 cash — Minnesota's first federal juror bribery case in generations
DOJ charged five individuals on June 26, 2024 with conspiracy to bribe a federal juror, bribery, and corrupt influence. The targeted juror was surveilled for multiple days before being approached with a bag containing $120,000 in cash and written instructions to vote not guilty. Defendants: Abdiaziz Shafii Farah, Abdimajid Mohamed Nur, Said Shafii Farah, Abdulkarim Shafii Farah, and Ladan Mohamad Ali. All five eventually pleaded guilty. Farah entered his juror bribery guilty plea June 17, 2025. Bribery occurred while Farah was on trial and facing 28+ years on the main fraud charges.
Abdiaziz Shafii Farah, co-owner of Empire Cuisine & Market LLC (the earliest and largest individual operator within the scheme), was sentenced to 28 years in federal prison and ordered to pay $47,920,514 in restitution — the largest individual sentence in the case as of March 2026. Farah personally pocketed $8M+ and purchased five luxury vehicles in six months.
Abdiaziz Farah sentenced to 28 years — landmark sentence setting benchmark for top-tier FoF operators; personal profit $8M+ in 18 months
U.S. District Judge Nancy Brasel sentenced Abdiaziz Shafii Farah, 36, to 336 months (28 years) in prison followed by 3 years supervised release on August 6, 2025. Restitution ordered: $47.9M+. Farah convicted of 23 counts including wire fraud conspiracy, federal programs bribery conspiracy, money laundering conspiracy, and passport fraud. His Empire Cuisine & Market and affiliated sites claimed 18 million meals at 30+ sites, receiving $47M+ in reimbursements; Farah personally pocketed $8M+ in 18 months. DOJ called it a 'landmark sentence.' This is the longest sentence in the FoF case to date. Farah separately pleaded guilty on June 17, 2025 to juror bribery (sentencing TBD).