Lou Raguse of KARE-11 posted an update earlier this week on a state tax fraud case linked to the Feeding Our Future scandal. From KARE-11,
Prosecutors allege ‘complex web’ of fraud centered at Minnesota’s top taxpayer-funded day care.
The day care involved is named Minnesota Best, and took in more than $4 million in taxpayer payments in fiscal year 2026, the most of any day care in the state. State licensing records show that Minnesota Best closed over the summer. Raguse reports that the day care has since reopened under new ownership, confirmed by state licensing records.
KARE-11 reports,
62-year-old Ali Egal is the lead defendant, accused of spinning a “complex web” of businesses he runs with family members with the “singular goal of extracting money from state programs.”
The case involves Egal, his brother, and their respective wives, and involves at least $10 million in revenue. It was announced back in July with a press release from the state Dept. of Revenue (DOR),
Metro area business associates charged with multiple tax crimes
The DOR alleges that the four defendants registered some fourteen (14) companies, all at the same address of the now-closed day care. Of the companies mentioned by DOR, both Minnesota Best ($1,510,000) and Aaron Child Care ($302,000) are listed in federal court documents as being registered Feeding Our Future food distribution sites.
The DOR reports,
MN Best paid Ruwayda Kitchen L.L.C. over $2 million for children’s meals from 2020 to 2024. Ruwayda Kitchen L.L.C and Ruwayda Kitchen and Catering LLC business accounts were used for significant personal spending. Ruwayda Kitchen’s financial accounts showed only $19,646 in possible food purchases.
As it happens, the last-ever tax return filed (2020) by the nonprofit company Feeding Our Future lists an Ali Egal as a board member. To be clear, none of the four defendants in this case have been charged in the Feeding Our Future fraud and that they dispute the tax charges.
This detail in the KARE-11 report caught my eye involving co-defendant Abdirasak Abdulle,
Abdulle allegedly used $3.3 million of taxpayer money to buy an entire block of businesses on Lake Street, which had been forfeited by Feeding Our Future convict Qamar Hassan after she bought the properties with fraud money.
The property involved is the 301 block of East Lake Street (Item 10).
The block has already been forfeited once, as Raguse notes, as it involved the S&S Catering group of defendants in the Feeding Our Future fraud.
It’s the circle of fraud. Raguse notes that the tax trial is set for May 2027.