Questions surrounding charity links intensified after a Washington Free Beacon investigation revealed that a fast-growing Islamic charity praised by the NFL has deep connections to Minnesota’s massive Feeding Our Future fraud. Human Development Fund (HDF), which claims to deliver “hot meals” to orphans in Gaza, was founded by individuals closely tied to a scheme that stole $250 million from a federal child nutrition program.
HDF founder and CEO Abdirahman Kariye serves as an imam at Dar Al-Farooq, a Minneapolis-area mosque that operated as a food distribution site during the fraud. HDF fundraising director Khalid Omar also leads at the mosque. In June 2021, during the height of the scheme, both men publicly honored Feeding Our Future founder Aimee Bock for her “Outstanding leadership to the Minnesota communities.” Omar praised Bock as a “furious fighter” for the program, while attendees chanted “Sweet Aimee.”
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HDF launched in 2023 and raised $33 million in its first full year, according to tax filings. The charity now stands to gain national exposure through the NFL’s “My Cause My Cleats” initiative, with players including Azeez Al-Shaair raising funds. Influencers such as Sami Hamdi, who said he felt “euphoria” after Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack, and Shaun King, who called Hamas “heroes,” have also backed the group.
The scrutiny deepened after Mukhtar Shariff, a Dar Al-Farooq member, was convicted and sentenced to 17 years in prison for laundering $40 million. Prosecutors said Kariye “falsely” testified about food distribution levels, while a school official involved in the program said, “I felt taken advantage of.”
Though HDF and its leaders deny wrongdoing, the revelations have reignited debate over oversight, transparency, and charity links between nonprofits, politics and high-profile donors.
This article originally appeared on American Faith and is reposted with permission.
