Trial I · US v. Farah

Vol VIII

2024-05-02

Day Overview

Volume VIII is the longest testimony day thus far: Jared Kary's direct examination resumed and covered pages 1769–1942, followed by cross-examination by Andrew Mohring (Mukhtar Shariff) covering pages 1943–2016, and then cross by Andrew Birrell (Abdiaziz Farah) covering pages 2017–2047, adjourning unfinished. The most significant moments were: (1) introduction of the Afrique Hospitality Group investor pitch book framing federal child nutrition money as an investment revenue stream; (2) mass admission of the E-series emails (over 100 exhibits) showing rosters being circulated, all by stipulation with defense agreement; (3) admission of the C-series folders (monthly Dar Al-Farooq claim packets seized from FOF) showing consistent daily claims of 2,000–3,613 meals; (4) CLiCS summary charts showing a total of 1.9 million meals claimed at Dar Al-Farooq across 11 months; (5) Kary's admission on cross that the FBI conducted zero physical surveillance of Dar Al-Farooq and the mosque was not surveilled partly because it is a house of worship; (6) the revelation that Partners in Nutrition's attorney told government agents not to speak with Kara Lomen — and Kary confirming she has never spoken to the FBI, never testified before the grand jury; and (7) the disclosure of an FBI tip received February 6, 2021 — from a Partners in Nutrition employee named Christine Twait — that predated Ms. Honer's April 2021 referral by over two months. Defense counsel should pay particular attention to the Kara Lomen/PIN investigation gap, the zero-surveillance admission at Dar Al-Farooq, and Kary's concession that the FBI started its investigation already believing a crime had occurred.

Government Strategy

The government continued its direct examination of FBI case agent Jared Kary, its financial investigator and lead case agent. The strategy on this day was to cement the documentary paper trail linking the defendants to specific sites, inflated meal counts, and large invoices flowing through both Feeding Our Future (FOF) and Partners in Nutrition (PIN). The government mass-admitted an 'E series' of over 100 emails showing defendants circulating rosters, meal count sheets, and invoices to FOF and PIN. It then walked through the 'D series' of emails in detail — showing Abdimajid Nur as the hub routing claims, rosters, and invoices to Abdiaziz Farah, Mahad Ibrahim, Mukhtar Shariff, and to sponsor representatives including Kara Lomen at PIN. The government also introduced summary CLiCS charts for 16 sites showing total meal claims, peaking at nearly 2 million meals for Dar Al-Farooq alone over eleven months. It then introduced the Afrique Hospitality Group investor pitch book (G-110) through Kary, emphasizing the language about '2500 kids daily worth of food service contracts' as the stated plan to fund the event center from federal child nutrition money. Finally, the government ended direct by showing the January 12–23, 2022 emails where Abdiaziz Farah sent a check register to Hayat Nur, she returned a set of invoices matching every entry, and then Abdimajid Nur forwarded the package to Said Farah — three days after the January 20 search warrants — arguing consciousness of guilt.

Strategic Notes for Defense Counsel

- The Kara Lomen/Partners in Nutrition investigation gap is the most significant unexplored defense terrain in this entire case. Kara Lomen was the Executive Director of Partners in Nutrition (a private sponsor organization — NOT an MDE employee), controlled claim submissions, received reimbursements, and processed a majority of the program money. Her attorney told the FBI not to talk to her. She has never been interviewed, never testified before the grand jury, and has never been charged. A Partners in Nutrition employee (Christine Twait) was simultaneously the government's informant and later the records custodian who signed authenticity certificates. This is a profound investigative conflict that Defense counsel should develop aggressively — including seeking to interview or call Lomen as a defense witness and challenging the completeness of PIN's grand jury production. - The FBI admitted zero surveillance of Dar Al-Farooq throughout the investigation, and Kary admitted complete ignorance of what was actually distributed at the site. The government's entire case rests on volume implausibility, but no agent ever watched a single distribution. Pandemic waivers authorizing non-congregate, pickup-based meal distribution — including by parents for children not present — were never addressed with Kary. Defense counsel must build this defense: retain a food distribution expert, obtain records of actual deliveries (Sysco receipts, kitchen records, delivery logs), and present an alternative narrative of what actually occurred. - The FBI made a conscious decision not to search Yahoo (Said Farah) and Hotmail accounts despite Kary admitting they 'should have' because those accounts 'could have been exculpatory.' This is a potential Brady argument and an argument of selective and inadequate investigation that Defense counsel should press hard in pretrial motions and at trial. - Mukhtar Shariff's situation illustrates a containable defense: he did not appear in the email chains until nine months in, the company bearing his name was also organized by Mahad Omar, no forfeiture action has been taken against his assets, the pitch book was sent to him (not from him), and none of the signatures on meal count sheets can be forensically attributed to him. The government's case against Shariff is primarily circumstantial and relies heavily on inference from association with Afrique. - The mass stipulated admission of 100+ email exhibits (E-series) by prior defense counsel without contest was likely a mistake that streamlined the government's presentation considerably. Defense counsel should evaluate any analogous mass-exhibit offers in his trial with extreme caution and resist blanket authenticity stipulations where the documents' contents are central to the government's narrative.

Witnesses

Jared Kary

FBI Special Agent (white-collar financial crimes unit, Minneapolis field office), 16-year veteran; case agent in the FOF fraud investigation since approximately August 2021; the government's primary investigative witness and the agent who appears most knowledgeable about the full scope of the evidence gathered.

FBI Government

Direct Examination

The government used Kary to introduce and authenticate a massive volume of documentary evidence: (1) the Afrique Hospitality Group pitch book (G-110) sent New Year's Eve 2020 from Mahad Ibrahim to Mukhtar Shariff, describing plans to fund the event center with '2500 kids daily worth of food service contracts'; (2) the C-series folders (monthly claim packets for Dar Al-Farooq seized at Feeding Our Future) showing consistent 2,000–3,500+ meals per day signed by Abdimajid Nur or 'Mukhtar'; (3) over 100 email exhibits (E-series) showing rosters and billing documents circulated among defendants; (4) D-series emails showing Abdimajid Nur routing invoices, meal counts, and claims to Kara Lomen at PIN and to Abdiaziz Farah for FOF sites; (5) CLiCS summary charts showing staggering total claim volumes at 16 sites; and (6) the January 2022 email exchange showing a check register sent to Hayat Nur by Abdiaziz Farah and her same-day return of matching invoices, followed by Abdimajid Nur forwarding the package to Said Farah three days after the January 20 search warrants.

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Afrique Hospitality Group pitch book (G-110) states '2500 kids daily worth of food service contracts using CACFP and SFPS' as a revenue stream to fund the catering and event center. — Government's single most damaging piece of evidence — it attributes to the defendants, through their own document, a stated plan to use federal child nutrition programs as a financing mechanism for a private business. This is the government's clearest evidence of motive and premeditation. [p. 1771]

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Dar Al-Farooq CLiCS summary (N-24) shows claims starting at 2,000 average daily attendees in January 2021, rising to 3,613 in May 2021, and continuing at approximately 3,531 through November 2021 — a total of over 1.9 million meals claimed in eleven months at a single mosque site. — The government presents these as impossible numbers for a real feeding program. Defense must develop evidence of what was actually distributed at Dar Al-Farooq and whether pandemic waivers permitted non-congregate distribution at volumes the government implies are implausible. [p. 1910]

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Multiple FOF monthly claim folders for Dar Al-Farooq (C-358, C-360, C-361, C-362, C-363, C-364, C-365, C-366, C-367) seized at Feeding Our Future search, each containing weekly consolidated meal count sheets, site delivery receipts, invoices from Afrique Hospitality Group or ThinkTechAct to FOF, and attendance rosters — all submitted for reimbursement. — This is the core documentary chain: site → claim packet → sponsor → MDE. Government argues these documents are fabricated. Defense must contest either the authenticity theory or demonstrate that the documented meal distributions were real. [p. 1774]

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Kary testified about the mass E-series emails (E-1 through E-110, with some gaps), admitted by stipulation, all described as 'emails relating to the sending of attendance rosters' among Abdimajid Nur, Abdiaziz Farah, Mukhtar Shariff, Mahad Ibrahim, Hayat Nur, and to Kara Lomen at Partners in Nutrition. — The mass stipulated admission of over 100 exhibits is a major prosecutorial win. Prior defense counsel made a strategic decision not to contest authenticity, which streamlined government presentation but may have cost defendants the ability to challenge specific documents. [p. 1817]

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Invoice from Somali Community Resettlement Services (SCRS) to Kara Lomen at Partners in Nutrition (D-12), dated March 31, 2021, for over $633,000 for CACFP sites in Minneapolis, Faribault, Rochester, St. Cloud, and Willmar. — Shows Abdimajid Nur's entity invoicing Kara Lomen at PIN directly for hundreds of thousands of dollars — placing Lomen (who has never been charged or interviewed) at the center of the money flow as the person who approved and processed these claims. [p. 1840]

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Empire Enterprises was registered with the Minnesota Secretary of State on April 5, 2021 by Abdiaziz Farah — and approximately one month later was already invoicing Partners in Nutrition for over $1 million in SFSP reimbursements (D-22). — Government argues rapid registration followed by massive invoicing shows the entities were created for the fraud scheme. Defense could argue ordinary business sequencing for someone who already had operations. [p. 1851]

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Email January 12, 2022 from Abdiaziz Farah to Hayat and Abdimajid Nur containing a check register (D-57), followed same day by Hayat Nur returning 'completed invoices' (D-56) matching each entry — with Abdimajid Nur then forwarding the package to Said Farah on January 23, 2022, three days after the January 20, 2022 search warrants became public. — Government frames this as fabrication of backup documentation after the fraud was exposed, and as consciousness of guilt in forwarding to Said Farah post-search. This is among the most damaging sequences of the entire trial. [p. 1941]

Cross-Examination

Two defense attorneys crossed Kary. Mohring (Shariff) methodically used the government's own emails to show that Mukhtar Shariff did not appear in any of the Dar Al-Farooq email chains until September 14, 2021 — nine months into the program's operation — and that none of his property, bank accounts, or vehicles were subject to forfeiture. Mohring also established that Afrique was a real business with a real building, lawyers, architects, a contractor, and eventually opened as an event center; that the FBI conducted no surveillance of Dar Al-Farooq and had no knowledge of whether food was actually distributed there; that Sysco invoices were not fake; and that the cost per meal could be as low as $1.57. Birrell (A. Farah) exposed that the FBI had received a tip from a Partners in Nutrition employee (Christine Twait) on February 6, 2021 — before Ms. Honer's April 2021 referral — and that the government made a conscious choice to proceed against FOF by search warrant while giving PIN only a grand jury subpoena, with PIN's attorney instructing the government not to interview Kara Lomen and with Lomen never having spoken to the FBI or appeared before the grand jury.

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Kary admitted that the FBI conducted zero physical surveillance of Dar Al-Farooq during the entire investigation period, stating 'A place of worship, I don't believe we would surveil, unless other circumstances.' He also confirmed there was no surveillance of Oak Grove Middle School (the second Dar Al-Farooq distribution location). — Critical for defense: the government presented 1.9 million meals claimed as implausible, but admitted it never watched the site at any point. The government cannot affirmatively prove no food was distributed — it simply assumed it. [p. 2007]

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Kary admitted he had 'no knowledge' of whether food was actually being distributed at Dar Al-Farooq: 'I was not there. I didn't do surveillance of that location. I'm not aware of what occurred at Dar Al-Farooq.' — Devastating admission for government's zero-food narrative. Combined with COVID waiver provisions (non-congregate, pickup-based distribution), this opens a powerful defense theory that the government simply never looked. [p. 1994]

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Mohring established through the email chronology that Mukhtar Shariff's email address first appeared in the Dar Al-Farooq claim chain on September 14, 2021 (D-33) — nine months after the program started — and that Shariff personally sent a claim email to FOF for the first time on October 21, 2021 (C-346). — Shariff's participation in the alleged scheme was limited in time and documentation. No property, bank accounts, or vehicles belonging to Shariff appear in the forfeiture allegations — undermining the scale of his alleged participation. [p. 1970]

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Kary admitted that the investigation took no handwriting exemplars from Mukhtar Shariff, and confirmed that the investigation 'cannot confirm that any one of those signatures...was signed by Mukhtar Shariff the person.' — All government evidence about 'Mukhtar' or 'Muktar' appearing as a site supervisor is legally insufficient to attribute the signature to the defendant. This is a significant evidentiary gap. [p. 2000]

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Kary confirmed that Afrique Hospitality Group had a real physical building at 1701 East American Boulevard in Bloomington that he himself drove by 2–3 times in fall 2021, worked with an architect, a design firm, and a construction contractor, and that something now operates there as a cultural center. — Directly undercuts the government's 'shell company' and 'empty' characterizations made in the opening statement. Afrique was a real business pursuing a real development project. [p. 1989]

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Kary confirmed the FBI received a tip on February 6, 2021 from Christine Twait — a Partners in Nutrition employee — alleging misconduct by Feeding Our Future and Aimee Bock, predating Ms. Honer's April 2021 referral by approximately two months. Kary did not disclose this to the jury during direct examination. — Shows the FBI had awareness of PIN as a competing entity reporting against FOF — but chose not to investigate PIN, search PIN, or interview Kara Lomen. Raises inference that PIN had an interest in directing suspicion at FOF. Also undermines Kary's credibility as a witness who presents a complete picture. [p. 2028]

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PIN's attorney told the government not to speak with Kara Lomen. Kary confirmed this. Kara Lomen has never spoken to the FBI, never been interviewed, and has never appeared before a grand jury. PIN did not produce all subpoenaed records according to Birrell's cross — and Kary admitted he does not know whether PIN fully complied. — Kara Lomen — Executive Director of Partners in Nutrition, the sponsor who actually processed and submitted the claims and received reimbursement — has never been investigated, interviewed, or charged, despite being a central figure in the money flow. The government's decision to protect PIN while prosecuting FOF-adjacent defendants is potentially exculpatory and points to selective enforcement. [p. 2036]

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Kary admitted that Sysco invoices in evidence were not fake ('I don't believe I would say that I saw any Sysco invoices during the investigation that I thought were fake'), despite the opening statement claiming little to none of the money went to food. Sysco supplied real food to Afrique locations. — Contradicts the government's own opening statement language about 'fake invoices, bogus documents.' Defense can point to $980,000+ in Sysco food purchases as evidence that real food procurement occurred. [p. 1963]

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Kary confirmed that Partners in Nutrition was not the sponsor for Dar Al-Farooq at any point — Feeding Our Future was always the Dar Al-Farooq sponsor — and that no payments were ever made through PIN for Dar Al-Farooq claims. — Some PIN-obtained documents in evidence relate to Dar Al-Farooq only because of an attempted but rejected site transfer. This undermines the framing of those documents as claim submissions. [p. 1983]

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Kary admitted that the FBI 'should have' obtained emails from Yahoo and Hotmail (Said Farah's account) but decided not to, acknowledging 'it would be more evidence' and that it 'could have been exculpatory evidence too.' — Conscious decision not to pursue potentially exculpatory email accounts. Said Farah's Hotmail account was not searched. Opens Brady/Giglio argument for defense counsel in future proceedings. [p. 2047]

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Kary confirmed the FBI started the investigation 'believing there would be violations of the law' and was 'not applying a presumption of innocence' to its investigation. — Birrell forced Kary to admit the investigation was framed from the start as proving guilt, not testing a hypothesis. Useful for a narrative about tunnel-vision investigation and selective evidence gathering. [p. 2041]

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Pitch book document (G-110) was an email from Mahad Ibrahim to Mukhtar Shariff — not authored by Shariff. Kary corrected the record that the prior day's questioning may have misattributed authorship, noting the email ran from Ibrahim to Shariff. — Government's framing implied Shariff authored the 'kids daily food service contracts' language. Cross corrected this — the document was sent to Shariff, not authored by him. [p. 2008]

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Pitch book food service revenue was 'not included in the profit and loss projections' of the Afrique investor pitch, and the 2021 milestones were all business development steps (securing investment, opening kitchen, launching events). — Even within the government's own key exhibit, the food program is characterized as supplemental revenue excluded from core P&L projections — consistent with a legitimate business supplemented by food program income rather than a fraud scheme. [p. 1996]

Vulnerabilities Kary has serious credibility problems that prior defense did not fully exploit. First, he admitted on cross that the investigation 'started with the belief there would be violations' and was not applying a presumption of innocence — this is a legitimate attack point for every inference he drew. Second, he withheld from his direct examination the February 6, 2021 tip from a PIN employee (Twait) that predated the April 2021 MDE referral; when confronted, he said it 'wasn't something that really stuck out.' This compounds impeachment because he also omitted that PIN's attorney told the government not to talk to Kara Lomen and that Lomen was never interviewed or grand-jury-subpoenaed. Third, Kary admitted zero surveillance of Dar Al-Farooq and zero knowledge of whether food was distributed there — yet the government's entire case rests on the premise that no real food was served. Fourth, he admitted no handwriting exemplars were taken from any defendant, meaning all the 'Mukhtar' signatures on meal count sheets are unattributable. Fifth, he acknowledged the FBI chose not to search Yahoo and Hotmail email accounts, conceding they 'should have' because it could have been exculpatory. Sixth, his roster characterization — asserting 'attendance roster is a list of children...some of the required documentation' — is a regulatory overclaim for SFSP open sites, where rosters were not required. Government counsel did not press this point but it is preserved for cross in future trials. From a regulatory standpoint, Kary made no distinctions between SFSP open sites (no roster required) and CACFP closed enrolled sites (roster required) — every site was lumped together as requiring the same documentation.

For Defense Counsel Defense counsel should: (1) Commission an aggressive investigation of what actually occurred at Dar Al-Farooq during the food program period — government has zero eyewitness or surveillance evidence of the site; pandemic waivers allowing non-congregate meal distribution are untested here. (2) Subpoena all PIN records including Kara Lomen's email and PIN's internal documents — PIN was never searched, its attorney instructed the government not to interview Lomen, and it may not have fully complied with grand jury subpoenas. Lomen's 'I will turn off the errors' text message (noted in project context) is devastating evidence of a sponsor-side gatekeeper deliberately bypassing controls — PIN's culpability has never been explored. (3) Challenge every 'Mukhtar' signature as unattributable — no handwriting experts, no exemplars. (4) Pursue the Christine Twait tip and her dual role as PIN employee-turned-tipster and record custodian whose certificate of authenticity was signed in April 2024 — years after subpoena production began. (5) Develop the Sysco evidence as proof of real food purchasing; engage a food cost expert to calculate plausible meal volumes from documented food purchases. (6) Attack Kary's failure to search Yahoo/Hotmail accounts of defendants as deliberate avoidance of potentially exculpatory evidence.

Key Evidence

Type	Exhibit	Description	Page	Challenge Opportunity
Document	Gov. Ex. G-110	Afrique Hospitality Group investor pitch book titled 'Where Minnesota Meets Africa,' emailed December 31, 2020 from Mahad Ibrahim's account to Mukhtar Shariff's account, describing plans to fund the event center with revenues from '2500 kids daily worth of food service contracts using CACFP and SFPS.'	[p. 1770]	The document was sent from Ibrahim to Shariff, not authored by Shariff. It predates actual program operation. The food service revenue line was 'not included in the profit and loss projections' of the pitch, suggesting it was contemplated as supplemental rather than primary. The document was created on New Year's Eve 2020 when COVID vaccine rollout was just beginning — consistent with genuine uncertainty about program duration and a search for revenue. Most importantly, CACFP and SFSP participation by a qualified vendor is not per se fraud; the document does not state the intent to fabricate claims.
Data/Summary	Gov. Exs. N-10, N-18, N-20, N-22, N-24, N-28, N-32, N-36, N-38, N-46, N-50, N-52, N-54, N-60, N-68, N-76, N-86	Summary charts of CLiCS claims data for 16 sites associated with the defendants, derived from Gov. Ex. C-580 (the full CLiCS dataset). N-24 (Dar Al-Farooq) shows 1.9 million total meals claimed over eleven months. Charts show average daily attendance of 2,000–3,613 at Dar Al-Farooq.	[p. 1905]	Dar Al-Farooq distributed meals in a pandemic period under USDA waivers permitting non-congregate pickup distribution, including by parents, guardians, and for multi-day meal packages. The FBI never watched the site, so there is no affirmative evidence these meals were not distributed. The source data (CLiCS) comes from sponsor submissions, not from independent headcounts. No government witness has testified to actually observing the sites during operations.
Document	Gov. Exs. C-358 through C-367	Monthly claim packet folders for Dar Al-Farooq seized from Feeding Our Future, covering January through December 2021, each containing weekly consolidated meal count sheets (2,000–3,500+ per day), site delivery receipts signed 'Mukhtar' or 'Abdimajid,' invoices from ThinkTechAct/Afrique Hospitality Group, and attendance rosters.	[p. 1785]	The signatures are unattributed — no handwriting analysis was performed. The attendance rosters were never shown to be fabricated rather than actual distribution records. Pandemic waivers may have permitted the meal counts claimed. The fact that FOF maintained physical file folders for each site/month is arguably consistent with a sponsor maintaining records as required.
Document	Gov. Exs. E-1 through E-110 (various gaps)	Over 100 email exhibits admitted by stipulation, all described as emails related to sending attendance rosters and meal count documentation among Abdimajid Nur, Abdiaziz Farah, Mukhtar Shariff, Mahad Ibrahim, Hayat Nur, and to Kara Lomen at Partners in Nutrition.	[p. 1817]	Admitted by stipulation without contest to authenticity or content. Prior defense strategy should be examined — mass stipulated admission foreclosed individual document challenges. For defense counsel's future clients: do not stipulate to mass exhibit admission without careful vetting of each document's content and the inferences it invites.
Document	Gov. Exs. D-57 and D-56	D-57: January 12, 2022 email from Abdiaziz Farah to Hayat Nur and Abdimajid Nur with attached check register listing payments to Bushra Wholesalers, Empire Enterprises, Empire Cuisine, Nur Consulting, and others. D-56: Same-day reply from Hayat Nur labeled 'Completed invoices' attaching invoices from those entities to ThinkTechAct, each matching the check register entries. Abdimajid Nur forwarded both to Said Farah on January 23, 2022 — three days after the January 20 search warrants.	[p. 1939]	The defense theory — that a check register followed by matching invoices is standard accounting practice — was advanced by Birrell on cross, and Kary eventually agreed that having a check register matched with invoices is normal. The 'problem' the government identifies (invoices returned within hours) is equally consistent with a business that already had invoice templates for prior transactions. The forwarding to Said Farah three days after search warrants could reflect ordinary business communication rather than consciousness of guilt. Defense counsel should pursue what the pre-existing invoice templates looked like and whether they existed on Hayat Nur's computer.
Document	Def. Ex. D1-237	FBI tip report documenting a February 6, 2021 tip from Christine Twait, a Partners in Nutrition employee, making allegations against Feeding Our Future and Aimee Bock. Admitted as a defense exhibit during Birrell's cross-examination of Kary (hearsay within redacted).	[p. 2028]	Government argued the tip did not open the full investigation; the April 2021 MDE referral was what opened the formal case. The court sustained some objections. However, the existence and source of this tip is now in the record.
Document	Gov. Ex. C-0	Summary chart listing all 50 sites associated with the defendant group, showing site name, address, and sponsor (PIN or Feeding Our Future), derived from CLiCS data.	[p. 1912]	Kary testified the chart was based on CLiCS data — it summarizes what was claimed, not what was fraudulent. Defense counsel should challenge the inference that all 50 sites were fraudulent.

Legal Rulings & Objections

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Court admitted Government Exhibit C-0 (50-site summary chart) over defense request for more foundation; Thompson provided additional foundation through Kary connecting it to CLiCS data and the 50 sites with admitted CLiCS data. Admitted over initial objection. — Chart summarizing 50 sites is in evidence without additional authentication beyond Kary's testimony. Defense counsel should explore whether the chart's characterizations of sites as 'PIN' vs. 'FOF' sponsored are accurate. [p. 1912]

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Thompson's objections that Mohring's question about Afrique Hospitality Group as 'Mukhtar Shariff's entity' misstated the evidence were overruled, but Kary clarified it is 'registered with the Secretary of State' — he did not affirmatively agree it was Shariff's in the way the question implied. — Useful for challenging the government's attribution of Afrique as entirely Shariff's enterprise. The company was organized by Mahad Omar and the pitch book was authored from Ibrahim's email. [p. 1897]

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Court sustained hearsay objection to the content of D1-237 (FBI tip report) but permitted Birrell to cross-examine Kary about the fact of the tip, its date (February 6, 2021), and its source (Christine Twait at Partners in Nutrition). — The fact and source of the tip are in evidence for impeachment purposes. The underlying content of what Twait said is not. Defense counsel should explore what Twait said through other avenues — depose her if possible in a civil proceeding or attempt to call her as a witness. [p. 2025]

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Court sustained objection to Mohring's attempt to introduce evidence about what food was actually distributed at Dar Al-Farooq (cost per meal from St. Paul central kitchen) as relating to a 'different site' when Kary referenced the information in a 302 report. — Defense was unable to get in the $1.57/meal cost figure from a central kitchen that would have supported the legitimacy of the meal numbers claimed. Defense counsel should find a proper evidentiary vehicle — expert testimony or a witness from the kitchen — to get actual food cost data into evidence. [p. 2000]

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Court overruled Thompson's relevance objections to Mohring's forfeiture questioning and to Mohring's question whether the investigation had looked at what is currently operating at the Afrique location. — Forfeiture evidence (nothing belonging to Shariff subject to forfeiture) came into evidence. The current operation of the Afrique/Zawadi cultural center is a permissible area of inquiry. [p. 2016]

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Court admitted Defendant's Exhibit D7-23 (Sysco sales data from cross) without objection. This is listed in the index at page 1957. — Sysco data showing actual food purchases is in evidence as a defense exhibit — showing real food procurement. Defense counsel should build on this with expert testimony. [p. 1957]

Prior Defense Performance

Mohring's cross (Shariff) was strategically disciplined and effective. He methodically walked through the government's own email exhibits to show Shariff was absent from the claim chain until September 2021, corrected the pitch book authorship misattribution, established Afrique as a real business, extracted the zero-surveillance admission for Dar Al-Farooq, established that no forfeiture action has been taken against Shariff's property, and introduced the Sysco data. The signature-attribution line of questioning was legally important and Kary's concession was significant. The food distribution questioning was intelligent — Kary was forced to admit total ignorance of what occurred at the site. Where Mohring fell short: he did not press the regulatory framework distinctions (SFSP open site vs. CACFP closed enrolled, COVID waivers), did not develop the significance of zero physical surveillance in the context of what the pandemic waivers actually permitted, and did not extract a clean admission that Kary had never reviewed USDA COVID waiver regulations (as happened with Agent Parks in Trial 2). Birrell's cross (Abdiaziz Farah) was less polished but produced important factual concessions: the February 2021 FBI tip from a PIN employee, the government's failure to interview Kara Lomen, the investigative decision not to search Yahoo/Hotmail accounts (which Kary admitted 'should have' been done and could have yielded exculpatory evidence), and the framing of the invoice-matching episode as normal accounting rather than fabrication. Birrell was occasionally argumentative and the court repeatedly cut off questions. The key missed opportunity: neither defense attorney pressed Kary on the COVID-19 pandemic waivers and their implications for non-congregate food distribution — this is the single most important regulatory defense that was left completely unexamined in this volume.