Kenyan Arrested in Nairobi over Ksh142m US Feeding Scheme Charged in Minnesota

US prosecutors have broadened their crackdown on international fraud networks, revealing that suspects behind separate multi-billion-shilling schemes targeting American government funds bought properties in Kenya and converted stolen money into cryptocurrency.

Details released by the US Department of Justice on Friday, October 30, show that a 54-year-old Kenyan man arrested in Nairobi on September 30 after 10 months on the run used proceeds from a Ksh142 million child nutrition fraud to buy land in Kenya, pay himself and his son, and purchase a motor vehicle.

The suspect, who was extradited to the US, was among 13 people charged over schemes that siphoned funds from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Medicaid.

Prosecutors said the group used an organisation named Feeding Our Future to submit falsified records for non-existent feeding centres in Minnesota. They claimed to serve over 6,000 children daily at the Bilaal Mosque in Pelican Rapids and the Multicultural Resource Centre in Moorhead over a four-month period.

The development followed charges filed on Thursday, October 29, against several other Kenyans involved in an alleged Ksh17 billion student aid scam. In that scheme, an international ring created fraudulent student accounts using stolen American identities to secure college loans and grants. Investigators participating in "Operation Ghostbusters" revealed they had seized about Ksh97 million in cryptocurrency from an account belonging to a Kenyan suspect.

Assistant Attorney General Colin McDonald said US federal agencies are tracking financial flows across borders to recover stolen funds.

"The operation targeted individuals exploiting federal aid programmes, and authorities will pursue suspects regardless of where they operate," McDonald said.