Man Sought in Minnesota Fraud Case Returned From Somalia

A man prosecutors describe as a central figure in a sprawling fraud case in Minnesota was extradited to the state this week, nearly four years after officials began seeking him.

The man, Abdikerm Eidleh, was captured overseas, the first of a handful of people being sought outside the United States on indictments in a series of federal fraud cases that have become a major priority for the Trump administration, officials said.

Mr. Eidleh, 42, a naturalized American citizen, was away from the United States in September 2022 when he was among dozens of people charged with stealing hundreds of millions of dollars from a pandemic-era program meant to feed low-income children.

Somali authorities took him into custody late last month in Mogadishu, the capital, at the request of the F.B.I. But the American government’s ability to return him to the United States to face trial appeared uncertain in recent weeks because Somalia and the United States lack an extradition treaty. Supporters of Mr. Eidleh in Somalia took to the streets to protest his arrest.

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Prosecutors have said he was a top associate of Aimee Bock, the leader of Feeding our Future, a Minnesota nonprofit that they say was at the center of a scheme to bill the government for hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of meals that were never served. The Justice Department called it the largest Covid-era case of its kind.

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