Nonprofit’s Leader Convicted of Siphoning Off $240 Million in Federal Food Aid

Aimee Bock was accused of overseeing a scheme that exploited lax pandemic-era controls, and reaped millions with fake invoices for nonexistent meals

By David A. Fahrenthold. From the New York Times. Excerpts:

"The leader of a Minnesota anti-hunger nonprofit was convicted in U.S. District Court on Wednesday of masterminding a brazen scheme that reaped more than $240 million in pandemic relief funds with a network of bogus food kitchens that billed the government for 91 million meals.

The nonprofit’s leader, Aimee Bock, 44, was convicted by a jury of seven counts, including wire fraud and bribery. Another defendant, Salim Said — a 36-year-old who oversaw one of the bogus kitchens — was convicted of 20 counts, also including wire fraud and bribery."

"At least 70 people were charged in the scheme, and more than 40 have already pleaded guilty or been convicted. Last year, another case related to the same scandal made national news, when someone attempted to bribe a juror in a separate trial by leaving about $120,000 in cash at her home in a Hallmark gift bag."

"The fraud scheme targeted two programs meant to feed hungry children, which were funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture but administered by the state of Minnesota. The system relied on nonprofit groups called “sponsors” to be its watchdogs. They were supposed to oversee individual kitchens and feeding sites and make sure they were not inflating the number of children they served." 

"Ms. Bock ran a sponsor nonprofit called Feeding Our Future. Prosecutors said she had conspired with dozens of people to set up 250 nonexistent feeding operations around Minnesota and used her oversight power to hide that network from the government. By law, Ms. Bock’s nonprofit got a cut of the money. Prosecutors said it had eventually totaled $18 million.

Many of the fake operations submitted invoices for implausibly large numbers of children: Mr. Said’s operation, for instance, said it had fed 6,000 a day, more than all the children in its ZIP code."