In an effort to prevent a conviction in a US pandemic fraud prosecution, five individuals have been accused of bribing a juror with $120,000.
During the latter days of a trial in Minneapolis, the 23-year-old juror—who wished to remain anonymous—reported receiving a gift bag containing $1,000.
Joseph Thompson the Assistant US Attorney, said this is the kind of thing you see in mob movies.
Seventy individuals are facing charges of embezzlement from government food programs totaling $250 million that occurred during the COVID-19 outbreak.
Three of the five bribery suspects had previous convictions for using false child welfare claims and a fabricated paper trail to steal millions of dollars.
Abdimajid Mohamed Nur, Abdulkarim Shafii Farah, Said Shafii Farah, Abdiaziz Shafii Farah, and Ladan Mohamed Ali are among those who have faced charges of bribery and corrupt influence.
The United States Attorney, Andrew Luger, expressed his gratitude that the jury could not be bought and referred to the suspected bribery attempt as an attack on our justice system.
The lady was singled out by the bribery gang, according to the prosecution, because they believed her to be the only juror of color and because she was the panel’s youngest member.
An employee of the now-defunct organization Feeding Our Future stole nearly $40 million from a government food-aid program that was supposed to feed hungry children. The jury was deciding this case.
It was the intention of the bribers, according to Mr. Luger, to have the jury persuade the other members of the panel that the prosecutors were racist in order to get the defendants acquitted.
Allegedly, she and another defendant went to the juror’s house on the evening of June 2nd to provide money to a relative of hers.
Prosecutors stated that the family member was given further funds in exchange for persuading her fellow jurors to reject the verdict.
The maximum penalty for the crime of bribing a juror is ten years in jail.
This is the first federal jury bribery case in the state.
