Federal judge orders forfeiture of $5.2 million from Feeding Our Future fraud ringleader

WASHINGTON (TNND) — A federal judge ordered a ringleader behind the approximately $250 million Feeding Our Future fraud scheme to forfeit her tainted earnings from the scandal, which include a 2013 Porsche, $3.7 million from her bank accounts, and luxury goods found in her home.

In addition, authorities seized a diamond necklace, bracelet and earrings, roughly 60 laptops, iPads and iPhones, and a luxury Louis Vuitton purse and backpack.

The judge approved the preliminary order for the roughly $5.2 million forfeiture just before New Year’s Eve. Aimee Bock, 44, the founder of the Minnesota non-profit Feeding Our Future, was found guilty last March following a six week trial alongside co-defendant Salim Said, a Somali American restaurant owner.

The pair were a part of a plot allegedly claiming to serve 91 million meals to low-income children during the COVID-19 pandemic, but in reality, the fraudsters were siphoning off the federal dollars to make luxury purchases for themselves.

“That money did not go to feed kids,” Acting U.S. Attorney Lisa D. Kirkpatrick said in a press release.

“Instead, it was used to fund their lavish lifestyles. Today’s verdict sends a message to the community that fraud against the government will not be tolerated.”

Bock founded Feeding Our Future in 2016. By 2019, the nonprofit received $3.4 million in Federal Child Nutrition Program funds, and by 2021, the funding ballooned to $200 million.

The Minnesota Department Education had flagged the nonprofit and attempted to shut down the payments, but Bock fought against it in court, asserting that the state was discriminating against her nonprofit because it serviced the Somali community. Bock won her case.

“She didn’t just facilitate the fraud, she fought for it and when MDE raised concerns about Feeding Our Future and the massive claims coming, Aimee Bock went to war,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel Bobier said during the trial. “She attacked MDE in the public, in the media, in the courts.”

The Justice Department has so far convicted people and charged 78 individuals for their involvement in the scandal. Attorney General Pam Bondi said 72 of the defendants charged are of Somalian descent, while five defendants are “currently fugitives in Africa.”

The newfound interest in the Feeding Our Future scandal in Minnesota — deemed the largest pandemic relief fraud scandal in the country’s history — comes amid recent investigations revealing that an estimated $9 billion in Medicaid dollars have been fraudulently distributed in the state. Also, a video released by independent journalist Nick Shirley allegeding that the Somali community has established fake daycares to receive government funds has brought attention to the state as well.