Liban Alishire said he needed to travel to Kenya to sell off properties he bought in the Feeding Our Future scheme, so he can pay back restitution to the federal government.

 By Kelly Smith

A man convicted in the sprawling Feeding Our Future fraud case was granted permission Wednesday to travel abroad next month, so he can sell properties in Kenya to pay restitution.

U.S. District Court Judge Nancy Brasel granted Liban Alishire’s request to travel to Kenya for up to 30 days to sell his properties there, helping cover the $712,084 in restitution he’s agreed to pay the federal government — money the Brooklyn Park man made off inflating the number of meals he said he fed to kids in need in Minneapolis.

Alishire is one of several defendants in the case who have been permitted to travel temporarily overseas.

Federal prosecutors opposed the travel motion, arguing that Alishire may not return to face sentencing, given his family ties to Kenya and the approximately four-year sentence he could face.

Brasel granted Alishire no more than 30 days for a trip from Minnesota to Kenya — half the time Alishire had requested — and he must stay in contact with his attorney and return his passport within 24 hours of returning to Minnesota.

Alishire is one of 60 people who have been charged since last fall in the massive food fraud scandal, accused of stealing federal money meant to feed children in need during the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead, prosecutors say, they spent most or all of the money on lavish homes, cars, trips or other expenses.

Prosecutors say the more than $250 million fraud scheme is one of the largest pandemic-related fraud investigations in the country, much of it centered around St. Anthony nonprofit, Feeding Our Future.

Prosecutors said Alishire created a fake meal distribution company that claimed to feed hundreds of thousands of kids, and he used the money to pay kickbacks to a Feeding Our Future employee and transfer proceeds to a shell company that he used to buy a truck, boat and real estate.

Alishire pleaded guilty in January to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering and admitted that only a small fraction of the meals were actually served to children. In his plea agreement, he agreed to give up the boat, truck, five-bedroom apartment in Nairobi and several rental units on the Kenyan coast. The value of the sold properties will be applied to the restitution he owes.

His sentencing has not yet been scheduled, but in his plea agreement, the sentencing guidelines ranged from 41 to 51 months.

Alishire argued in court documents that returning in person to Kenya, with his expertise of the local market, will draw maximum value and reassure potential buyers. His attorneys also argued that Alishire isn’t a flight risk, with a pretrial services report predicting a 3% chance of failing to appear. Plus, they argued, their client took responsibility immediately, pleading guilty after the indictment.

“It would make no sense for him to have done any of this if he intended, a year later, to make a hare-brained and futile attempt to flee,” attorney Matthew Forsgren wrote in court documents, adding that Kenya has an extradition treaty with the U.S. and Alishire’s wife, two young children and businesses are all in Minnesota.

His attorneys also pointed out in court documents that another Feeding Our Future defendant with a much greater flight risk was permitted to travel to Somalia and Saudi Arabia. A third defendant, Khadar Adan, was granted approval in September by U.S. Magistrate Judge Tony Leung to leave Minnesota for seven weeks to travel to Turkey, Ethiopia and Dubai for business reasons.

Source: StarTribune