Feeding Our Future Fraud Case Sees Its First Guilty Pleas

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) – The first two defendants have pleaded guilty in the massive Feeding Our Future fraud case.

Bekam Merdassa was the first to plead guilty to conspiracy and wire fraud in federal court Thursday morning. Hanna Marekegn also pleaded guilty on Thursday.

Bekam Merdassa’s guilty plea

Merdassa has two masters degrees, but is now looking at up to 30 months for bilking the government to the tune of $3 million that should have gone to feed needy kids.

Prosecutors described Merdassa as a minor participant in the scheme. In court, he admitted to setting up a bogus entity called Youth Inventors Lab to provide meals to needy kids during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. He worked with a catering company that delivered zero meals to food-insecure children.

In the plea deal, Merdassa admits to pocketing $343,086 from food program conspiracy.

The deal calls for a prison sentence of 24-30 months. The judge will ultimately decide at a future hearing.

Hanna Marekegn guilty plea

Marekegn, 40, pleaded guilty to conspiracy and wire fraud totaling $7.1 million.

She admitted to falsely claiming to feed more than 2 million meals for needy children, saying she provided “some food” but not nearly 2 million through her Brava Cafe in Minneapolis. She also committed fraud on the vendor side, falsely claiming to provide meals to another feed site.

Marekegan, who is a naturalized citizen, agreed to forfeit her large Medina home she bought with money she gained through the fraud scheme. She also agreed to pay back $5,169,405 to the government.

In exchange for the guilty plea, Marekegn agrees to a potential prison sentence of 37-46 months. The crime comes with a five-year maximum sentence, according to state statute.