The founder of a Minnesota-based charity was convicted Wednesday of orchestrating a brazen ruse to steal nearly $250 million in pandemic relief funds from a federal program designed to feed hungry children in need – prosecutors said it was the country’s largest COVID-19 fraud scheme.
According to the US Attorney’s Office in Minnesota, Aimee Bock, 44, the founder of Feeding our Future, was found guilty on federal charges of wire fraud, bribery, and conspiracy for recruiting a network of people and organizations to operate up to 250 fraudulent meal assistance sites across the state.
Prosecutors said her non-profit took advantage of a COVID rule change that allowed student meal-assistance programs to operate outside of schools, as well as the involvement of for-profit restaurants, squandering federal funds intended to feed underserved children during the pandemic on her “lavish” lifestyle.
Her co-defendant, Salim Ahmed Said, who oversaw one of the phony kitchens in Minneapolis, was also found guilty after a six-week trial on a slew of charges for his involvement in the scheme.
“Aimee Bock and Salim Said took advantage of the Covid-19 pandemic to carry out a massive fraud scheme that stole money meant to feed children,” said Acting US Attorney Lisa Kirkpatrick.
“The defendants falsely claimed to have served 91 million meals and fraudulently received nearly $250 million in federal funds.” That money did not go towards feeding children. Instead, it was used to support their extravagant lifestyles.
Prosecutors said Bock and her 36-year-old accomplice, who owned the now-defunct Safari Restaurant, created fake meal counts, fraudulent invoices, and attendance sheets with fictitious names of thousands of children allegedly served daily in order to secure additional funding from the US Department of Agriculture.
The faulty documents were submitted to the state’s Department of Education, which then disbursed the funds.
Prosecutors said the fraudsters spent more than $240 million intended for children on expensive cars, international travel, and luxury real estate in Minnesota, Ohio, Kentucky, Kenya, and Turkey.
“It was the largest COVID fraud scheme in the country, and what Bock and her co-defendants did was reprehensible,” Kirkpatrick said at a press conference after the jury’s decision.
“During COVID, while many people tried to help, Bock and Said were thieves. They took advantage of the crisis to significantly enrich themselves and their criminal partners.”
At least 70 people were charged in the scheme, and over 40 more have pleaded guilty or been convicted. The defendants are being tried in separate groups.
Before the latest trial began, a separate Feeding Our Future defendant admitted to witness tampering in connection with bribing a juror with a bag containing $120,000 in cash, prompting law enforcement to increase precautions and security for Bock’s trial.
Democratic Gov. Tim Walz, who was chastised by Republicans for failing to detect the fraud sooner, slammed the scammers for preying on a system designed to care for children.
“We just need to make sure that we put up more firewalls, more security, more ability to make sure that these criminals aren’t able to prey on this,” Walz went on.
Kenneth Udoibok, Bock’s attorney, said he intends to appeal the verdict, claiming the jury did not take enough time to consider the overwhelming evidence before reaching a decision. The jurors reportedly deliberated for approximately five hours.
Bock was found guilty of four counts of wire fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, bribery, and conspiracy to commit federal program bribery.
Said was convicted of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, four counts of wire fraud, conspiracy to commit federal program bribery, eight counts of bribery, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and five counts of money laundering.
They are both being held without bail awaiting their sentencing.
The date has not yet been set.
With post wires.
