Democrat Rep. Ilhan Omar’s sister registered her consulting firm at a Minnesota home connected through business records to several figures in the massive “Feeding Our Future” fraud case, according to a new report. Sahra Noor’s company, Grit Partners Consulting, used the Lakeville residence as its incorporation address. The woman associated with the home had business relationships with multiple people convicted in the federal child nutrition fraud scheme.
The address connection surfaced as Minnesota lawmakers continued examining possible links between Omar and people associated with Feeding Our Future. The organization sponsored meal sites that submitted fraudulent claims for federal reimbursements during the COVID-19 pandemic. A state House committee attempted to subpoena records from Omar in May, but the proposal failed after the committee’s Democratic members voted against it.
Noor previously operated several organizations in Minnesota before founding Grit Partners, a consulting firm focused on healthcare, leadership, and development projects. Her website says she has worked in the United States and more than eight African countries. It also says she has “secured more than $20 million in funding for health initiatives” and consulted on projects backed by the CDC, USAID, GAVI and the World Bank.
Noor claims that she secured the funding for health initiatives during her broader career and worked on projects supported by several government agencies and international organizations. As Yahoo News reported, Grit Partners was incorporated using a home on Hyacinth Avenue in Lakeville.
The home is occupied by Mashah Ahmed Ali and his wife, Ister Ahmed Afraa, who is also identified as Ismahan Ahmed Afraa. Incorporation records examined in the report showed that Afraa established Sunrise Business Center with Hanna Marekegn. Marekegn later pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit wire fraud through the federal child nutrition program.
Marekegn admitted that her company falsely claimed it was serving as many as 4,000 children each day. Her plea agreement said the business submitted inflated meal counts, fake paperwork and fraudulent reimbursement claims. The company obtained approximately $7.1 million from the program, while Marekegn agreed that she owed more than $5.1 million in restitution.
Afraa also incorporated Sunshine Care Center MN, which used the same office address as Sunrise Business Center. State health records reportedly identified Feeding Our Future founder Aimee Bock as a contact for Sunshine Care Center. Bock was sentenced to 500 months, or more than 41 years, in federal prison for leading the scheme.
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The Hyacinth Avenue home used by Noor’s company was also listed as the incorporation address for Diversity Childcare Center, another organization for which state records reportedly identified Bock as a contact. The report traced additional connections between Afraa and Sahra Mohamed Nur (a different woman than Ilhan Omar’s sister). Nur operated S & S Catering and was sentenced to 51 months in prison for her role in the fraud operation.
According to federal prosecutors, S & S Catering created fraudulent invoices that helped meal sites support reimbursement claims for food they had not actually purchased or served. Nur was ordered to pay more than $5 million in restitution. Afraa was also listed as the chief executive of a property company that operated from Nur’s home, an address reportedly used by numerous businesses associated with the Feeding Our Future network.
When contacted by the Daily Wire, Ali claimed he had never heard of the companies registered at his home or those associated with his wife. “There must be some sort of scam going on, I have no idea,” he said. Ali declined to provide his wife’s contact information, while Afraa did not respond to a text and Noor did not return the outlet’s request for comment.
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