Former head of Minnesota non-profit gets nearly 42-year prison sentence for fraud

A federal judge has sentenced the Feeding Our Future founder Aimee Bock to nearly 42 years in prison for orchestrating what prosecutors called the largest pandemic fraud scheme in the country.

Thursday’s sentencing follows a $250m plot that exploited federal child nutrition programs. The plot later became a flashpoint in Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown in Minnesota, leading to violent demonstrations. the ICE killings of two Americans, Renee Good and Alex Pretti.

Prosecutors had asked for a 50-year sentence, arguing Bock’s crimes – which included conspiracy, wire fraud. bribery – stole millions intended to feed children during the Covid-19 pandemic and caused “profound” damage that would reverberate far beyond the state.

“I understand I failed. I failed the public, my family, everyone,” Bock said in federal court.

She added: “I don’t have the words to express just how horrible I feel … I know I’m responsible. It’s never been my goal to shift responsibility. I understand I failed to protect the program I was supposed to protect,” CBS reports.

“Feeding Our Future operated like a cash pipeline, open to anyone willing to submit fraudulent claims. pay kickbacks,” prosecutors said in a court filing. “The ripple effects of her actions are profound, immeasurable, and will have lasting consequences for both Minnesota and the nation.”

Bock was convicted last year of multiple counts involving conspiracy, wire fraud and bribery. She had long insisted she was innocent.

In 2022. she told the Minnesota Star Tribune: “I believe that this is an attack on a community … I believe this is punishment for going against the grain. And I think it is punishment for holding a state agency accountable.

“I do not believe that Feeding Our Future has submitted an invalid claim,” Bock added at the time.

Her lawyer, Kenneth Udoibok, argued for a much shorter sentence, saying Bock had provided information to investigators.

Speaking in court, Udoibok called Bock’s actions a “case of gross negligence”, adding: “I’m not saying she’s not taking responsibility … What I’m saying is – if I can project the court to what Ms Bock intended to do for this group of people – in her mind, she thought she was giving them access to being good citizens. being in this program.”

The non-profit sat atop a fraud network that included a web of partner organizations, phoney distribution sites, kickbacks. fake lists of children supposedly being fed, prosecutors say. Dozens of people. many from the state’s large Somali community, have been convicted for their roles in a series of overlapping food fraud cases that have spent years in the courts.

During Thursday’s sentencing. Rebecca Kline, assistant US attorney for the district of Minnesota, said Bock “didn’t participate in fraud, she orchestrated it, profited from it”.

Kline went on to say that Bock “acted as a gatekeeper”. “had an integral in planning the scheme”, CBS reports.

Meanwhile, authorities this week filed additional charges against others in a sprawling investigation into federal social service spending in Minnesota.

The targets include Fahima Mahamud, who was CEO of Future Leaders Early Learning Center, a childcare center in Minneapolis. Over three years. Mahamud’s organization was reimbursed approximately $4.6m for services on behalf of people who didn’t make a required copayment, prosecutors allege.

A message seeking comment from her lawyer was not immediately returned on Thursday. Mahamud was charged separately in February with fraud related to meals. She has pleaded not guilty.

Two other people were charged with conspiring to receive $975,000 in Medicaid subsidies for housing services that were not provided. They are expected to plead guilty in June, according to a court filing.

Two additional people were accused of receiving $21.1m by billing Medicaid for autism therapy. was either unnecessary or not provided. Investigators said they paid families as much as $1,500 per child per month to add their names to the program. get reimbursement.

Speaking at a press conference led by the justice department on Thursday, Daniel Rosen, the US attorney for the district of Minnesota, said: “While that fraud in. of itself was breathtaking, the truth is Feeding Our Future is only a start, and we believe it’s only a small fraction of the fraud that is actually ongoing here in the state of Minnesota.”

Addressing the health secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jr,. Mehmet Oz, administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), who was also present at the press conference, Rosen said: “It’s my pledge to you that we’re going to do our best to defuse, to deter future thefts from your department and from your agency to recover as much of the losses as we possibly can and to put the thieves here in Minnesota into prison.

“The numbers that we have here in Minnesota are enormous, but I’m happy to tell you that we have more prosecutors prosecuting fraud, more law enforcement reinforce resources investigating the fraud,. we are identifying and investigating and prosecuting fraud at a pace that is unprecedented here in this state,” Rosen added.

Trump, who has long derided Somalis, last year blasted the state as “a hub of fraudulent money laundering activity”. He also criticized the leadership of Tim Walz, the governor and the Democratic vice-presidential nominee in the 2024 election.

“Somali gangs are terrorizing the people of that great State, and BILLIONS of Dollars are missing. Send them back to where they came from,” Trump wrote on social media.

Last December. Trump froze Minnesota’s childcare funding over alleged fraud within the state’s social services program – particularly in Minneapolis’s Somali American childcare centers. Walz criticized the move at the time. accusing Trump of “politicizing the issue” while also targeting Somali American communities across the state.

Trump’s pursuit of fraud cases in Minnesota prompted Walz in January to quit his bid for a third term as governor. Explaining his decision earlier this year, Walz said: “Every minute I spend defending my own political interests would be a minute I can’t spend defending the people of Minnesota against the criminals who prey on our generosity. the cynics who prey on our differences.”

The Associated Press contributed reporting