The developer of a Lakeville housing project targeting East Africans has not produced a list of its clients, complaints and refunds and will likely face sanctions in a state lawsuit, the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office said in a filing.
Nolosha Development, which markets itself as “the perfect place for families to grow and thrive,” is violating a court order to hand over internal documents, according to the Attorney General’s Office.
Nolosha also currently has no lawyer on record; the most recent lawyer withdrew from representing the company and CEO Abdiwali Abdullahi in late February.
The Attorney General’s Office will make its case for sanctions against Nolosha in an April 29 court hearing before Hennepin County District Judge Christian Sande, according to court documents.
A spokesperson from the Attorney General’s Office declined to comment on the matter. Abdiwali Abdullahi did not return voicemails and email messages Wednesday afternoon seeking comment.
The Attorney General’s Office last fall filed suit against Nolosha, charging the company and its CEO with consumer fraud, deceptive trade practices and false advertising. The Attorney General is seeking refunds for all of Nolosha’s clients, legal fees and stopping Nolosha from advertising its planned development.
Nolosha is a planned 160-unit housing development that the Attorney General’s Office alleges falsely advertised high-end homes throughout 2022, 2023 and 2024 for between $370,000 and $500,000. Geared toward East Africans, the company advertised that the development would also include a mosque, a school and several restaurants.
But Nolosha has never owned the 37-acre parcel of land it planned to develop nor obtained permits to develop the land from the city of Lakeville. The parcel of land is also mired in the Feeding Our Future case, as its existing owners allegedly bought it with stolen federal food-aid money. The federal government has put hold on any development of the land until the Feeding Our Future case is resolved.
Despite this, Nolosha collected deposits of up to $25,000 from at least 160 families seeking homes in the development, which the Attorney General’s Office alleges amounts to fraud. The first homes were supposed to open in fall 2023, but to date the Lakeville parcel is still undeveloped wetlands. Still, the Attorney General’s Office alleges that Nolosha collected at least $1 million from prospective homeowners.
Nolosha is also under a separate FBI investigation.
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Before filing the lawsuit last October, the Attorney General’s Office had been investigating the company for a year. A state judge last August ordered Nolosha to hand over several documents as a part of its investigation, including a list of clients who’ve signed pre-reservation agreements to live in the development, all complaints it has received from clients, all refunds it has issued to clients and all marketing and advertising material used to promote the development.
The Attorney General is now seeking these documents as a part of its lawsuit against Nolosha, and the office now accuses Nolosha of “failing to comply with the discovery process and rules of civil procedure.”
Nolosha similarly began 2025 without a lawyer, as its former attorney, David Aafedt, withdrew as the company’s lawyer late last year. In January, Sande held a status conference on the lawsuit and scolded Abdiwali Abdullahi for not complying with his previous order, noting that he’s had several months to hand over documents. At the time, Abdiwali Abdullahi had no lawyer and was representing Nolosha himself.
“I’m not going to keep policing this case,” Sande said. “I’m expecting that the people who are parties of this case are acting professionally.”
Sande continued: “This is a case involving millions of dollars, so I would assume that the people who are involved in it are sophisticated enough to be handling and managing a business of that magnitude.”
During that hearing, which was held remotely, Abdiwali Abdullahi apologized multiple times to Sande and stressed that he was in the process of obtaining a lawyer. He also said at that hearing that he did not want to formally respond to the Attorney General’s allegations against Nolosha without a lawyer present.
“We’re not purposely withholding any sort of information, your honor,” Abdiwali Abdullahi said.
Abdiwali Abdullahi asked to reschedule “as soon as I have proper legal representation.” Sande granted his request, but added that he would issue a new court order compelling Nolosha to hand over documents by Feb. 14.
Sande then warned Abdiwali Abdullahi that he would sanction Nolosha if it didn’t comply with the court order to hand over the documents. The sanctions could include striking Nolosha’s not guilty pleadings and“entering default judgment against you for the relief that the attorney general is requesting in this case.”
“It’s time for you to take this matter seriously,” Sande said. “Mr. Abdullahi, this just isn’t going to work.”
The mood was much happier one week later in another remote court hearing when attorney Surya Saxena attended and told the judge he was in the process of being retained as Nolohsa’s attorney. Saxena promised to work “very diligently” with the Attorney General’s Office to meet the Feb. 14 deadline.
“I don’t doubt you’ll be on top of this,” Sande told Saxena. “You’re a quality attorney with a quality firm.”
Sande also extended the deadline for Nolosha to hand over documents to Feb. 28. Yet two days before that deadline, Saxena withdrew as Nolosha’s attorney, totalling his time representing the company to just three weeks.
Reached by phone this week, Saxena declined to comment on why he withdrew as Nolosha’s attorney, citing attorney-client privilege.
Nolosha’s previous lawyer, David Aafedt, withdrew from Nolosha on New Year’s Eve 2024 after representing the company for several months. Aafedt did not return phone calls or emails seeking comment on Nolosha.