The FBI has added Said Abdullahi Ereg to its newly unveiled Most Wanted Fraudsters list and is offering up to $150,000 for information that leads to his arrest and conviction. Ereg, a Minnesota man accused in the Feeding Our Future fraud scheme, is one of eight people on the first version of the list.

The bureau launched the list on Thursday, saying it is meant to draw public attention to fugitives accused of large-scale financial crimes. It also said the people named on it are accused of stealing anywhere from $1.3 million to $1.2 billion, placing Ereg’s case in a category the FBI wants to make harder to ignore.

Prosecutors allege that between April 2020 and April 2021, the business tied to Ereg falsely claimed to have served more than 1.4 million meals to children and received more than $4.2 million in payments. Ereg was described as a former south Minneapolis grocery and deli owner, and investigators allege he used much of the money to support his family's lavish lifestyle.

They also allege he transferred funds to foreign accounts controlled by overseas companies. Ereg has been charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud and money laundering, and a federal arrest warrant was issued for him on Jan. 24, 2024. The case sits inside the wider Feeding Our Future fraud, a sprawling scheme connected to a federal child nutrition program during the COVID-19 pandemic.

That is the part the FBI is pressing on now. In announcing the list, the bureau said fraud is not a victimless crime and that victims lose savings, homes, businesses and benefits they earned and depended on. But while Ereg has now been publicly named and rewarded for, the bureau has not said where he is.

The next step is plain: someone with information has to come forward, and the FBI is betting a public reward and a public list can help do what the warrant has not yet done.