The FBI has added Fahad Mohamed Nur to its Most Wanted Fraudsters List, accusing the Minnesota businessman of stealing more than $5 million from a federal child nutrition program during the COVID-19 pandemic and then fleeing the country. The bureau is offering up to $150,000 for information leading to his arrest and conviction, Fox News Digital first reported.
Nur allegedly owned a vendor and purported food supplier that submitted fake invoices to siphon funds from Minnesota's Federal Child Nutrition Program, then laundered the proceeds. He has been a fugitive since 2022. The FBI believes he has ties to Somalia and may currently be living there, beyond the easy reach of American law enforcement but apparently not beyond the bureau's attention.
His addition to the list marks the latest move by the White House Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, led by Vice President JD Vance, which officials say has already uncovered more than $13 billion in fraud. Two other fugitives on the list have already been apprehended, one out of Somalia, the other from the Philippines, within weeks of the list's launch.
Nur's case does not exist in a vacuum. It sits inside one of the most sprawling pandemic fraud operations ever prosecuted on American soil, a scheme centered in Minnesota that exploited programs meant to feed hungry children.
Federal prosecutors have charged 47 defendants, predominantly Somali immigrants in Minnesota, with orchestrating a $250 million fraud through a nonprofit called Feeding Our Future. The Department of Justice called it the largest pandemic relief fraud scheme charged to date. U.S. Attorney for the District of Minnesota Andrew Luger described it bluntly: "This was a brazen scheme of staggering proportions."
The mechanics were simple and shameless. Defendants allegedly created fraudulent sub-organizations that claimed to feed needy children, filing for relief funds at mosques and submitting fabricated rosters of children who did not exist. One group reportedly copied names directly from listofrandomnames.com and submitted them to federal authorities as real meal recipients, according to Breitbart. Charity founder Aimee Bock allegedly recruited a network to operate up to 250 fraudulent meal assistance sites.
Stolen funds went to luxury vehicles and real estate across multiple states and countries. Approximately $900,000 in fraudulently obtained food assistance money was allegedly used to help construct a Muslim cultural and business center, according to trial testimony.
The trial is ongoing. But the sheer scale, a quarter of a billion dollars, makes the broader Minnesota fraud pipeline one of the defining scandals of pandemic-era government spending. Nur's alleged $5 million theft fits squarely inside that pipeline.
FBI Director Kash Patel framed Nur's addition to the Most Wanted Fraudsters List as part of a broader shift in federal enforcement priorities. In a statement to Fox News Digital, Patel pointed to the task force's early results.
"Under President Trump's and Vice President Vance's leadership with the White House Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, the FBI's historic 'Most Wanted Fraudsters list' has already seen tremendous success, with two subjects brought to justice in a matter of weeks, apprehended out of Somalia and the Philippines."
Patel went further, tying Nur's case directly to the administration's message on accountability.
"Our newest subject, Fahad Mohamed Nur, has been on the run since 2022 for allegedly stealing over $5 million from a child nutrition program in Minnesota."
He added that the task force has collectively uncovered more than $13 billion in fraud, and said the list's rapid results "should show all Americans that this FBI will be at the forefront pursuing the worst of the worst who stole from hardworking American taxpayers."
That $13 billion figure is notable. It suggests the task force is casting a wide net, far beyond the Minnesota nutrition fraud cases, though the methodology behind that number has not been publicly detailed.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche echoed Patel's tone, describing the DOJ's partnership with the FBI and the White House task force as having "already delivered historic results."
"President Trump has made it clear: Fraudsters no longer have a safe haven in America. Law enforcement will continue to use every tool at its disposal to bring those who steal from American taxpayers to justice."
Blanche's statement frames the list as a living document, one that grows as investigators identify fugitives and builds public pressure through high-profile additions. The $150,000 reward for Nur is a concrete incentive aimed at anyone with knowledge of his whereabouts, particularly in Somalia, where the FBI believes he may be hiding.
The pandemic unleashed trillions of dollars in federal spending with loosened oversight rules that were supposed to speed aid to families and businesses in crisis. What followed was predictable to anyone who understands how government money works when guardrails come down.
Programs designed to feed children became ATMs for criminal networks. In Minnesota alone, the Feeding Our Future case showed how easily bad actors could game the system, submitting fake names, inflating meal counts, and routing taxpayer dollars into personal enrichment. The COVID-era relaxation of verification requirements, intended to help programs operate during lockdowns, created openings that fraudsters drove through at scale.
Nur's alleged scheme was smaller than the $250 million Feeding Our Future case, but it followed the same playbook: fake invoices, a shell vendor, laundered proceeds, and a fugitive who left the country before facing consequences. The fact that he has been on the run since 2022, three years, raises its own questions about how aggressively prior administrations pursued these cases.
The current administration's approach, at least rhetorically, treats pandemic fraud as a top-tier enforcement priority rather than a cleanup exercise. The Most Wanted Fraudsters List is a public-facing tool designed to put names and faces on the problem. Two arrests in a matter of weeks suggests the list is more than symbolic.
Several questions hang over the Nur case. No specific charges or indictment details have been publicly referenced in connection with his listing. The court jurisdiction handling his case has not been identified. And the FBI has not disclosed whether Nur is cooperating with any foreign government or whether Somalia has any extradition arrangement that would facilitate his return.
The broader $13 billion fraud figure cited by Patel also lacks public detail on how it was calculated, whether it reflects completed cases, ongoing investigations, or estimated losses across multiple programs. Transparency on that number would strengthen the task force's credibility.
Meanwhile, the Feeding Our Future trial continues in Minnesota, with 47 defendants facing charges in what remains the largest single pandemic fraud prosecution in American history. The defense has attempted to contextualize Somali immigrant financial practices as part of its strategy, an argument that does nothing to explain away fabricated children's names pulled from a random-name generator.
The pandemic spending spree was sold as an emergency. The fraud that followed was treated, for years, as a secondary concern, an embarrassment to be managed quietly rather than a crime wave to be confronted. Billions vanished into schemes that exploited programs meant for the most vulnerable Americans, including children who were supposed to receive meals.
Fahad Mohamed Nur is accused of pocketing more than $5 million from one of those programs. He fled to the other side of the world. Now his name sits on a federal most-wanted list with a six-figure reward attached to it. Two other fugitives from the same list have already been arrested.
The pattern is clear enough. When the government hands out money with minimal oversight, criminals take it. The only remaining question is whether the people responsible face real consequences, or whether accountability arrives so late that it barely registers.
Three years is a long time to wait. But a $150,000 bounty and a spot on the FBI's most-wanted list suggest the waiting may be over.
