Restaurant owner Salim Said admitted Monday in federal court that he got rich off a federally funded meals program. But he distanced himself from the actual operation, describing himself mostly as a simple investor who got lucky with food sites that paid off like slot machines.
“I wouldn’t have participated if I wasn’t making a profit,” testified Said, co-owner of [Safari Restaurant in Minneapolis,](https://www.startribune.com/secret-cameras-show-safari-could-not-have-fed-thousands-of-kids-daily-says-fbi-agent-in-feeding-our-future-trial/601221263) the biggest moneymaker of the 299 meal sites sponsored by Feeding Our Future. “I did a couple of days of free food. That is all I can afford. That’s my living.”
In one of the final days of testimony in the $250 million case involving Said and Feeding Our Future [leader Aimee Bock](https://www.startribune.com/feeding-our-future-leader-aimee-bock-testifies-she-called-out-red-flags-in-fraud-scheme/601234661), jurors were presented with conflicting portraits of Said, who personally earned at least $5.5 million from the seven sites he allegedly controlled.
Prosecutors described Said as a career criminal who has been breaking the law since 2011, when he was convicted of a felony in Indiana. They reminded jurors that bank records showed his restaurant spent hardly any money on food, drawing a sharp protest from Said, who claimed — without evidence — that his restaurant spent at least $2 million with Sysco, a major food supplier.
Said’s claim drew an outraged protest from lead prosecutor Joe Thompson, who noted that Safari’s bank records do not reflect any large payments to Sysco and that Said’s attorneys should present any evidence supporting the claim to the jury.
“Don’t lie to this jury,” said Thompson, prompting U.S. District Judge Nancy Brasel to halt the proceedings for the day.
Said’s attorney, Adrian Montez, asked Brasel to strike Thompson’s remarks from the record, arguing that the defense has no obligation to prove how much money Safari spent on food. Brasel denied Montez’s motion, saying the government is entitled to “test the plausibility” of Said’s account.
In a brief interview with the Star Tribune on Monday, Montez said he is not prepared to challenge prosecutors' analysis that shows Safari spent just $317,000 on food in 2020 and 2021, despite obtaining more than $16 million through Feeding Our Future in reimbursements.