The Justice Department is seeking to revoke the US citizenship of a Somali-American man in Minnesota who was convicted in the massive Feeding Our Future fraud scheme — not because of the fraud itself, but because he allegedly used two separate identities when applying for residency and lied on his citizenship application.
Abdikadir Kadiye, 54, is awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty in 2023 to wire fraud for his role in the scheme to steal hundreds of millions of dollars from taxpayer-funded child nutrition programs during COVID. Now, the federal government wants to strip him of his citizenship.
Documents in the denaturalization proceedings against Kadiye do not mention the sprawling fraud scheme. Instead, they allege that he used two separate identities when applying for residency in the late 1990s and lied on his citizenship application.
Two Names, One Person
Authorities say that Kadiye initially applied for US residency under the name Liban Mohamud Degel, but an immigration judge rejected his bid in 1999 and ordered him to leave the country. The Board of Immigration Appeals later rejected his appeal and issued a warrant of removal in 2001.
He allegedly stayed in the United States, applied for citizenship as Abdikadir Kadiye, and was naturalized in 2012. According to the complaint, fingerprints from both applications confirm that Degel and Kadiye are the same person.
The Justice Department alleges that Kadiye’s “conduct to conceal his actions statutorily barred him from becoming a US citizen” and that he illegally procured his naturalization.
The complaint also alleges that in 2014, Kadiye admitted to a Customs and Border Protection agent at O’Hare Airport “that he had unsuccessfully used the identity of Liban M. Degel to attempt to enter the United States.” CBP, however, subsequently closed the deferred inspection since he was a US citizen.
The Feeding Our Future Fraud
According to his 2023 indictment, Kadiye used his business, Hoybo Health Care Foundation, to submit false claims worth $1.1 million for 445,000 meals that he claimed to have served to children at sites in Minneapolis, Eden Prairie, and Minnetonka.
Prosecutors said that Kadiye used the stolen money to pay his mortgage and credit card bills and also purchased real estate in south Minneapolis. Investigators uncovered wire transfers that Kadiye made to purchase vehicles, including a Toyota Tundra pickup truck and a BMW SUV.
Kadiye’s plea agreement calls for him to serve 27 to 33 months in prison, but US District Judge Nancy Brasel has not yet scheduled a sentencing hearing.
A Rare Legal Action
Denaturalization proceedings are rare. Federal immigration law requires that the Justice Department show “clear, unequivocal and convincing evidence” that a person was ineligible for citizenship or lied during the process of naturalization.
Kadiye is at least the second Minnesotan targeted for denaturalization. In May, the Justice Department began proceedings against Salah Osman Ahmed, who pleaded guilty in 2009 to providing material support to the Somali militant group al-Shabab, which the US government has designated as a foreign terrorist organization.
No attorney is listed for Kadiye in the denaturalization case. C. Connor Cremens, who represents Kadiye in the Feeding Our Future case, declined comment.
The Bottom Line
Federal prosecutors in Minnesota are seeking to revoke the US citizenship of Abdikadir Kadiye, a Somali-American man convicted in the Feeding Our Future fraud scheme. The denaturalization case alleges that Kadiye used two separate identities when applying for residency in the late 1990s and lied on his citizenship application. Fingerprint evidence confirms the two identities belong to the same person. Kadiye pleaded guilty in 2023 to wire fraud for his role in stealing $1.1 million from taxpayer-funded child nutrition programs. Denaturalization proceedings are rare and require clear evidence of ineligibility or lies during the naturalization process.
