SAVAGE, Minn. – Armed federal agents raided a string of Twin Cities homes Wednesday looking for who tried to bribe a juror with a gift bag full of cash.
Kandi Hanson lives in Savage across the street from one of the homes that were robbed.
“All of a sudden I hear loud screaming outside,” Hanson said. ‘It scared me. I kind of crawl out the window to see what’s going on, and here’s like five, six undercover agents and the FBI banging on the doors and yelling.”
Similar raids also took place at a second home in Savage, along with homes in Burnsville and Shakopee.
All four houses raided suspects convicted in the Feeding Our Future fraud trial that was completed last week.
Five people were found guilty in the case that saw more than $40 million stolen from a program meant to feed children during the pandemic.
On the last day of the trial, someone delivered $120,000 in cash to a juror’s home, a suspected bribery attempt. That juror called the police and was dismissed from the trial. The FBI is investigating where that money came from.
‘Everything in the house was searched. They were there for a few hours,” Hanson said. “I didn’t expect this today. I never expected it [my neighbors]. They are the nicest people in the world. It’s just crazy.”
Two defendants in the case were acquitted, but 45 more people are expected to stand trial for the fraud scheme, which prosecutors say raked in a quarter of a billion dollars.
Eighteen people have already pleaded guilty.
David Schuman
