Abdikerm Abdelahi Eidleh, 42, of Burnsville, was taken into custody on Thursday in Mogadishu, Somalia, on numerous federal fraud and money laundering charges tied to the sprawling $300 million pandemic-era fraud case that’s come to be known as the Feeding Our Future prosecution, named after the nonprofit at the heart of the scheme.

Eidleh, a former employee at Feeding Our Future, was at the center of the plot which largely involved a “pay-to-play” scheme where business owners operating fake meal sites paid bribes and kickbacks to Feeding Our Future in exchange for joining the criminal enterprise.

According to the charges, Eidleh received many of the bribes and was responsible for recruiting companies to enroll scam food sites through the federal child nutrition program. Eidleh is accused of depositing more than $5 million in kickbacks, bribes and other illicit proceeds into bank accounts opened through shell companies. He did not have an attorney listed Friday afternoon.

“Eidleh’s capture shows that, if you commit fraud against the American taxpayer, and try hiding across the globe, the long arm of justice will find you,” said United States Attorney Daniel Rosen. “We salute the FBI’s work in finding Eidleh, and are grateful to all our federal and international partners that help us hold accountable those who defraud our government.”

Bock has maintained she was not the main architect of the fraud plot that’s since grown to 79 defendants since federal prosecutors announced the first wave of indictments in September 2022. Kenneth Udoibok, her attorney, told the Minnesota Star Tribune that Eidleh was the one responsible for recruiting people and businesses to enroll their sham meal sites, largely because he spoke Somali.

“The government knew that. It was told by a witness that it was Eidleh who was recruiting. The prosecutors knew that. The agents knew that. But that is not what they told the court. That is not what they told the jury,” Udoibok said.