Attorney General Ellison recovers $18.5 million in taxpayer dollars from Partners in Nutrition in civil settlement
Lawsuit and settlement resolve year-long civil investigation into PIN regarding false claims made to the State for child nutrition funds, in violation of False Claims Act
Partners in Nutrition to pay all remaining funds in its possession, cooperate with ongoing affiliated AGO investigations through the production of additional documents and communications, and dissolve as an entity
Settlement resolves claims against PIN as an organization but investigations into civil liability of individuals, site operators, and vendors are ongoing
September 24, 2026 (SAINT PAUL) — Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison announced today that he has filed a civil lawsuit and an $18.5 million settlement of the civil lawsuit with Partners in Nutrition, d/b/a Partners in Quality Care (“PIN”), that resolves claims that the non-profit knowingly defrauded the State of Minnesota out of millions of dollars in federal child nutrition funds during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, in violation of the Minnesota False Claims Act.
“Claiming millions of dollars in taxpayer-funded reimbursements for astronomical amounts of meals that were never delivered to Minnesota’s children is despicable,” said Attorney General Ellison. “Today’s settlement holds PIN accountable for defrauding the State and recoups $18 million in taxpayer funds, but it cannot adequately address the erosion of Minnesotans’ trust in government programs that bad actors like PIN and Feeding Our Future have caused. This fight is not over. My office continues to actively investigate a number of individuals and entities affiliated with PIN for violations of the Minnesota False Claims Act.”
Federal child nutrition programs provide funding to ensure that children have consistent access to healthy, nutritious foods. Minnesota Department of Education (“MDE”) administers federal nutrition programs in Minnesota. Under federal program rules, “sponsors” are responsible for overseeing and managing food distribution sites. PIN applied for and sponsored hundreds of sites in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and submitted thousands of monthly claims to MDE based on the purported service of millions of meals to children.
The legal authority of the Attorney General’s Office over federal child nutrition fraud is civil: criminal authority rests with the federal government or county attorneys. Since 2021, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Minnesota and other federal agencies have taken the lead in investigating and criminally prosecuting federal child nutrition fraud, with the partnership and cooperation of MDE and the Attorney General’s Office. The civil False Claims Act investigation began after MDE confirmed with the U.S. Attorney's Office that it had no objection to a state civil False Claims Act investigation into PIN and MDE then subsequently referred the matter to the Attorney General's Office.
In the civil lawsuit, the Attorney General alleged that from October 2020 to February 2022, PIN took advantage of its role as food program sponsor by knowingly and repeatedly submitting false claims to MDE for meals that were not served and facilitating widespread fraud in the food distribution sites it claimed to be monitoring.
In the consent judgment that Attorney General Ellison filed in court today, Partners in Nutrition agrees to (1) pay $18,517,909.27, which represents the entirety of the funds in the nonprofit’s possession, (2) produce to the Attorney General’s Office additional documents and communications related to PIN’s participation as a food program sponsor that were not already provided in the course of the Office’s investigation, and (3) voluntarily and permanently dissolve as an entity.
The consent judgment also includes a stayed civil penalty of $1 million that may be triggered by violations of the consent judgment. If, however, the Attorney General finds that PIN failed to provide materially accurate and complete financial disclosures, the stayed civil penalty shall be a $1 million dollar floor plus the entirety of any non-disclosed assets.
The resolution obtained in this matter was the result of a coordinated effort between the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office and the Minnesota Department of Education. The entire amount recovered will be returned directly to MDE, which will then return it to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The settlement does not release any of PIN’s officers or employees from personal civil liability, and the Attorney General’s Office continues to actively investigate a number of these individuals. The settlement also does not release site operators overseen by PIN or vendors associated with these sites from their civil liability, and the Attorney General’s Office also continues to actively investigate these entities and individuals for potential civil violations of Minnesota’s False Claims Act.
Minnesotans with concerns about the misuse of government funding are encouraged to file a complaint with the Attorney General’s Office via its online complaint form. They may also contact the Office at (651) 296-3353 (Metro area) or (800) 657-3787 (Greater Minnesota).
