US indicts Kenyan in Covid-19 aid fraud after brother's jailing

Kenyan national Abiaziz Farah is at the centre of a multimillion-dollar scandal after investigators revealed he siphoned funds from the Covid-19 emergency kitty in 2020, diverting the money into luxury cars and properties in Kenya and Dubai.

The 36-year-old is said to have swindled the US government of $300 million (Sh39 billion at today’s exchange rate ) million, which was meant for emergency funds.

The plot has not only landed him some years to cool his heels behind bars in a US federal prison, but it has also landed his younger brother in trouble.

United States District judge Nancy Brasel ordered that Farah serves 28 years in jail. He also has a separate case before the jury where he accused of bribery. The case is being heard by Justice David Doty.

After he was sentenced on August 8, 2025, the US has now come after his 28-year-old brother, Ahmednajid Sheikh.

Sheikh was indicted for allegedly conspiring with Farah to commit international money laundering. In a case dubbed ‘ feeding our future fraud scheme’, the US attorney Joseph Thompson said that the Kenyan national is the 74th person to have been netted in the fraud scheme.

According to Thompson, Farah was central to ‘Empire Group’. He stated that from 2020 to 2022, Farah and others siphoned a total of $40 million (Sh5.2 billion) from a programme meant to provide free meals to children in need.

On the other hand, Sheikh is accused of assisting Farah in hiding the money through buying off companies and estates. According to the prosecutor, Sheikh allegedly assisted his brother in buying a 20 per cent stake in a real estate company, then in April 2021, he bought an apartment in Nairobi’s South C.

The two brothers are accused of using the same money to buy land in Mandera.

According to Thomson, Farah bought  a townhome in Burnsville, Minnesota for $575,000 (Sh75 million) using the ill-gotten money.

Sheikh will now face the jury to defend himself.

“Abdiaziz Farah sent millions of dollars in fraud proceeds abroad, including to Sheikh.  Sheikh received those funds and helped his brother conceal the nature, location, source, ownership, and control of the fraud proceeds by investing them in Kenyan real estate through a series of sham corporate entities and bulk cash smuggling,” the indictment reads in part.

At the same time, the two brothers are accused of using the same money to buy land in Mandera.

According to the attorney, their communication also gave them away.  Sheikh and Farah are alleged to have communicated about the illicit wealth.

“You are gonna be the richest 25-year-old InshaAllah.” Farah is quoted as telling his brother.

Sheikh responded, “I love you so much.”

Thompson said that the two were sending each other messages and photos of the cash sent from the USA.

He stated that on August 29, 2021, Sheikh  allegedly sent his brother phots of USD 138,000. In addition, on December 9 the same year, he sent a banker’s box filled with Ush 270,000.

 Two days after Christmas, Sheikh then allegedly sent him a text that he had received USD 1.2 million.

Sheikh is said to have gotten to the USA through a woman codenamed S.D. The two were married in Kenya on December 30,2021, after which she then moved back to the USA.

 She on June 9, 2023 filed a petition for alien relative, seeking to facilitate Farah’s younger brother to travel to the USA.

Thompson explained that SD is the sister to Farah’s wife and she had worked in one of the company that was being used to facilitate the laundering.

On the flip side, Sheikh had also applied for the green card lottery for 2026, but he had indicated that he was single.

“ Sheikh allegedly used the proceeds of his fraud to invest in an upper-class Kenyan real estate company.  The FBI will use every resource to stop this shameful theft, and to ensure that taxpayer resources are used appropriately for their intended purpose,” said Thompson.

According to Thomson, Farah bought a townhome in Burnsville, Minnesota for USD 575,000 using the ill gotten money, the SD moved in.

Sheikh will now face the jury to defend himself.