Federal authorities in Minnesota have confiscated cellphones and taken all seven defendants into custody as investigators try to determine who attempted to bribe a juror with a bag of cash containing $120,000 to secure acquittals in a major fraud case. The defendants are accused of stealing over $40 million from a program meant to feed children during the pandemic.

The case went to the jury late Monday afternoon, following the dismissal of the juror who reported the attempted bribe and was replaced with an alternate. The incident had further ripple effects before deliberations resumed Tuesday when another juror was replaced after a family member asked about the attempted bribe.

According to an FBI agent’s affidavit, a woman rang the doorbell at the home of “Juror #52” in the Minneapolis suburb of Spring Lake Park late Sunday, the night before the case went to the jury. The juror wasn’t home, but a relative answered the door. The woman handed the relative a gift bag with a curly ribbon and images of flowers and butterflies, claiming it was a “present” for the juror.

“The woman told the relative to tell Juror #52 to say not guilty tomorrow and there would be more of that present tomorrow,” the agent wrote. The relative discovered the gift bag contained a substantial amount of cash.

The juror called police upon returning home and surrendered the bag of cash, which contained $100, $50, and $20 bills totaling approximately $120,000. The FBI took the bag from Spring Lake Park police on Monday morning and interviewed the juror.

The woman who left the bag knew the juror’s first name, the agent noted. The list of people with access to jurors’ names included prosecutors, defense lawyers, and the seven defendants.

U.S. District Judge Nancy Brasel and attorneys for both sides were informed of the attempted bribe Monday morning. The judge ordered all seven defendants to surrender their cellphones at the government’s request for investigators to look for evidence. She also ordered all seven to be taken into custody.

“It is highly likely that someone with access to the juror’s personal information was conspiring with, at a minimum, the woman who delivered the $120,000 bribe,” the FBI agent wrote, noting that the alleged fraud conspiracy at the heart of the trial involved electronic communications, including text messages and emails.

Before the case went to the jury late Monday afternoon, Judge Brasel ordered them sequestered for deliberations. When one juror called home to inform her family about the sequestration, a family member inquired, “Is it because of the bribe?” prompting the judge to replace that juror with an alternate as well.

Anyone involved in the attempted bribe could face federal charges of bribery of a juror and influencing a juror, with a maximum potential penalty of 15 years in prison.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Thompson condemned the bribery attempt, stating, “This is completely beyond the pale. This is outrageous behavior. This is stuff that happens in mob movies.” Defense attorney Andrew Birrell described it as “a troubling and upsetting accusation.”

The seven defendants are the first of 70 to go on trial in what federal prosecutors have described as one of the largest COVID-19-related fraud cases in the country. They allegedly exploited lax rules during the pandemic to steal from a program intended to provide meals to children in Minnesota.

Prosecutors claim the defendants collectively stole over $40 million in a scheme costing taxpayers $250 million. The group at the center of the alleged plot, Feeding Our Future, reportedly spent just a fraction of the money on feeding low-income children, using the rest on luxury cars, jewelry, travel, and property. Federal authorities have recovered about $50 million so far.

Eighteen other defendants have pleaded guilty, while the rest await trial. Among them is Aimee Bock, the founder of Feeding Our Future, who maintains her innocence.

The defendants are Abdiaziz Shafii Farah, Mohamed Jama Ismail, Abdimajid Mohamed Nur, Said Shafii Farah, Abdiwahab Maalim Aftin, Mukhtar Mohamed Shariff, and Hayat Mohamed Nur. Charges include wire fraud and money laundering. Shariff was the only defendant to testify and call witnesses on his behalf.

An Associated Press analysis last June documented how thieves across the country plundered billions in federal COVID-19 relief dollars. Fraudsters potentially stole over $280 billion, while another $123 billion was wasted or misspent. The loss represented 10% of the $4.3 trillion disbursed in COVID relief by last fall. Nearly 3,200 defendants have been charged, and about $1.4 billion in stolen pandemic aid has been seized.

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