The FBI's newly launched Most Wanted Fraudsters list claimed its first arrest Wednesday when Said Abdullahi Ereg, a former Minneapolis grocery owner accused of stealing more than $4.2 million in federal funds meant to feed children during the COVID-19 pandemic, surrendered to agents waiting at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport as his plane landed from overseas.
Ereg, 47, had been a fugitive since 2024, when a federal grand jury indicted him on charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering for his alleged role in the Feeding Our Future fraud scheme — one of the most brazen pandemic-era government fraud cases in American history. Federal prosecutors allege that Ereg's Evergreen Grocery and Deli in south Minneapolis, operating under the sponsorship of the nonprofit Feeding Our Future, fraudulently claimed to have served more than 1.4 million meals to children between April 2020 and April 2021. It received over $4.2 million in government reimbursements for meals prosecutors say were never served. Ereg was placed on the FBI's brand-new Most Wanted Fraudsters list just six days before his surrender. The day after being added to the list, he communicated through his attorney his intention to return to the United States.
"Today's arrest is historic — the first-ever arrest of a subject on our Most Wanted Fraudsters List. The days of Washington, D.C., turning a blind eye to fraud are over." — FBI Director Kash Patel
Court documents allege that Ereg transferred much of the stolen money to fund a lavish lifestyle and moved additional funds through foreign accounts. His wife, Najmo Ahmed, who worked at the business and received payroll through Feeding Our Future, pleaded guilty last year to money laundering charges and is awaiting sentencing. Ereg is one of nearly 80 individuals charged in the broader Feeding Our Future case, which prosecutors estimate involved roughly $300 million in fraudulent claims — making it among the largest pandemic relief fraud schemes prosecuted in the country.
The arrest is a direct product of the Trump administration's National Fraud Enforcement Division and the White House Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, led by Vice President J.D. Vance. The Most Wanted Fraudsters list, which publicly identifies eight individuals charged in major fraud cases, was explicitly designed to pressure fugitives into surrender and to signal to the public that the era of consequence-free government fraud has ended.
The Federal Child Nutrition Program provides reimbursements to organizations that serve meals to children in need. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the program was expanded significantly with reduced oversight — an opening that prosecutors say bad actors exploited on a massive scale across multiple states. The Feeding Our Future case, centered in Minnesota, has resulted in dozens of indictments. Ereg faces up to 20 years in federal prison if convicted on the most serious charges.
Money meant to feed hungry children during a pandemic was instead routed into foreign accounts and spent on personal luxuries — and for two years the man accused of doing it was overseas, apparently confident he could wait out American law enforcement. The Most Wanted Fraudsters list ended that calculation in less than a week. The message from the FBI and the Justice Department is clear: there is no jurisdiction far enough, and no timeline long enough, to escape accountability for stealing from the most vulnerable Americans.