5 Charged With Attempting $120K Bribe To Juror In Pandemic Aid Fraud Case

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Five people were charged on Wednesday for trying to bribe a juror in one of the country’s largest pandemic aid fraud cases with a bag of $120,000 in cash, the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the FBI announced Wednesday.

Abdiaziz Shafii Farah, Abdimajid Mohamed Nur, Said Shafii Farah, Abdulkarim Shafii Farah and Ladan Mohamed Ali were each charged with one count of conspiracy to bribe a juror, one count of bribery of a juror and one count of corruptly influencing a juror.

Abdiaziz Shafii Farah was also charged with one count of obstruction of justice.

The bribe attempt, which U.S. Attorney Andrew Luger on Wednesday called a “chilling attack on our justice system,” brought renewed attention to the trial of seven Minnesota defendants accused of coordinating to steal more than $40 million from a federal program that was supposed to feed children during the coronavirus pandemic. Five of the defendants were convicted earlier this month, but the bribe scheme disrupted the trial and sent federal authorities racing to uncover who was responsible.

According to an FBI agent’s affidavit, a woman rang the doorbell at the home of “Juror #52” in the Minneapolis suburb of Spring Lake Park the night before the case went to the jury. A relative answered the door and was handed a gift bag with a curly ribbon and images of flowers and butterflies. The woman said it was a “present” for the juror.

“The woman told the relative to tell Juror #52 to say not guilty tomorrow and there would be more of that present tomorrow,” the agent wrote. “After the woman left, the relative looked in the gift bag and saw it contained a substantial amount of cash.”

The juror called police right after she got home and gave them the bag, which held