Salim Said sentenced to 30 years in the US for fraud — Al Jazeera

In the United States, 37-year-old Salim Said was sentenced to 30 years in prison for fraud involving a federal child nutrition program in Minnesota during the COVID-19 pandemic. Said ran the Safari Restaurant in Minneapolis and, according to Al Jazeera, played a key role in a scheme that sought reimbursements for meals allegedly provided to children from low-income families.

Fictitious reimbursement claims

Prosecutors said Said was responsible for $44 million in fraud, including the actions of people he recruited into the scheme. Over 21 months, he submitted thousands of false reimbursement claims. The documents listed children who, according to the prosecution, did not exist.

According to prosecutors, Said claimed that 6,000 meals were distributed daily, while FBI cameras recorded about 40 people per day coming for food. During the 2025 trial, Said denied the charges and said that a significant portion of the food was delivered outside the restaurant. However, at sentencing, he expressed remorse.

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Sentences in the Feeding Our Future case

Said’s defense attorney, Barry Zoun, asked for a 12-year prison sentence and disagreed with the prosecution’s assessment that called him an organizer of the scheme. According to authorities, Said spent the illegally obtained funds on a $1.2 million house, commercial real estate and an $87,000 pickup truck.

Said was found guilty in 2025 along with Aimee Bock, the head of the nonprofit organization Feeding Our Future. She is serving a 42-year prison sentence and was also ordered to repay $242 million. State auditors found that the Minnesota Department of Education had received numerous complaints about Feeding Our Future but often suggested that the organization monitor its own activities.