Five charged for bribing juror with $120K in Covid fraud trial

Five people have been charged with attempting to bribe a juror with $120,000 (£93,770) in cash to vote against conviction in the "largest pandemic fraud" trial in the US.

The unnamed 23-year-old juror reported that she had received a gift bag filled with cash in the closing days of the federal criminal trial in Minneapolis.

"This is stuff that happens in mob movies," Assistant US Attorney Joseph Thompson told the court when the money was first reported.

Prosecutors have charged 70 people with stealing $250m from federal food programmes meant to feed hungry children during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Among the five charged are three who stood trial for providing fake names of non-existent children they were claiming to feed and creating a fraudulent paper trail in order to pocket millions of dollars.

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

At a news conference on Wednesday, US Attorney Andrew Luger called the alleged bribery attempt a "chilling attack on our justice system", adding that he was grateful that the juror "could not be bought".

Prosecutors say the group targeted the juror because she was the youngest on the panel and "they believed her to be the only juror of color".

The juror was part of a trial that centres on the theft of more than $40m by workers from charity Feeding Our Future. federal food-aid program meant to feed hungry children.

Prosecutors say one of the accused, Ladan Mohamed Ali, who was not charged in the initial plot, flew to Minneapolis from Seattle on 30 May and began tracking the jurors movements before approaching her.

On the night of 2 June, she and another defendant allegedly visited the juror's home and delivered cash to a relative of hers. They promised the family member that more money would be delivered if she successfully convinced fellow jurors to vote against conviction, prosecutors said.

The woman was given instructions to "convince all the remaining jurors to mark NOT GUILTY for all defendants and all counts", according to charging documents seen by the BBC.

They also compiled a list of "arguments to convince other jurors", many of which were based on the allegation that prosecutors were racist.

Bribing a juror is a felony that carries a sentence of up to 10 years in prison.

According to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, this is the state's first criminal case of attempting to bribe a federal juror.