Following a seven-week trial, a federal jury in Minnesota acquitted defendant Said Shafii Farah on June 7 of all nine charges in what federal officials claimed to be the nation’s largest fraud case arising from the COVID-19 pandemic. Steve Schleicher and Clayton Carlson represented Farah, one of only two defendants among the seven on trial who were found not guilty.

The acquittal was an exceedingly rare result, as only 0.4% of defendants in federal criminal cases were found not guilty at trial in 2022, according to The Pew Research Center.

Our client, an owner of Bushra Wholesalers LLC, was one of over 70 defendants who have been charged for their alleged roles in a $250 million fraud scheme involving a federally funded child nutrition program during the pandemic. He was accused of wrongfully receiving approximately $4.5 million in federal nutrition program funds.

Steve argued at trial that Mr. Farah supplied groceries and did not have knowledge of fraudulent activities. "He did not make claims to the Minnesota Department of Education or United States Department of Agriculture and was not responsible for overseeing food distribution sites," Steve said. "Mr. Farah's company, Bushra Wholesalers LLC, was a food distribution business with a warehouse and employees."

Steve said he is grateful that Mr. Farah was exonerated, and he commended the jury. "They really took the time to go defendant by defendant, charge by charge, element by element, and truly apply the presumption of innocence."

Also assisting on the case were IT specialist Nate Bruce, paralegals Bruce Johnson and Valerie Wolfe, legal administrative assistant Tiffany Gau, and Jeff Cluever, manager of e-discovery services.