Ahmed Ghedi, Defendant No. 13 in the free-food scandal, was scheduled to become the 47th individual convicted in the fraud case, so far.
He was present and on time at the Federal Courthouse in downtown Minneapolis this afternoon.
Your correspondent was there. Ghedi had taken ill this morning. “Sound mind and body” are a prerequisite for entering a guilty plea and Mr. Ghedi was not up to the task this afternoon.
So, the hearing was paused and will resume in exactly one week (June 24), same time, same channel.
Ghedi is one of the biggest political campaign donors among the Feeding Our Future (FOF) defendants, giving donations in the maximum amounts to Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, state Sen. Omar Fateh, Mayor Jacob Frey, and city council member Jeremiah Ellison, all Minneapolis Democrats.
In his donation to Rep. Omar, he listed his employer as “Safari Restaurant.”
Ahmed Ghedi was the second “A” in ASA Ltd., a St. Paul-based FOF shell company. In that capacity, he worked with convicted fraudster Salim Said (“S”), a co-owner of Safari Restaurant. The ASA group filed reimbursement claims with FOF exceeding $5.3 million. Ghedi formed another shell company, AG Ltd., that was used to assist the scheme.
Among the swag associated with Ghedi is a Cadillac Escalade, a Dodge Charger Hellcat, a Dodge Ram 1500, a Jeep Grand Cherokee, and a Mercedes S580. The Mercedes was only leased, so it was not subject to forfeiture.
Ghedi had been scheduled for trial in the case in August, along with four other defendants.
One of the other defendants scheduled for that August trial is Abdirahman Ahmed, of Columbus, Ohio, Defendant No. 14.
Your correspondent was in the courtroom yesterday (Monday) for a hearing to address the withdrawal of Ahmed’s attorney from the case, less than 60 days before the trial commences. The attorney cited a breakdown in the attorney-client relationship as his reason for quitting the case. Ahmed had flown in for the occasion. He will be assigned a new attorney at taxpayer expense.
The prosecution questioned that move, given the large amount of unrecovered money and property Ahmed allegedly received in his part of the scheme.
A status conference for another August defendant, Hamdi Omar (No. 12), is scheduled for June 30.