Feeding Our Future leader convicted in $250M scheme that exploited child nutrition program
A jury convicted the leader of a Minnesota nonprofit organization Wednesday for her role in a $250 million pandemic fraud scheme that "exploited" a federal child nutrition program, prosecutors said.
Federal prosecutors have called the scheme one of the nation's largest pandemic-related frauds. Aimee Bock, founder and executive director of Feeding Our Future, was one of 70 people charged in the case.
The jury also convicted her co-defendant Salim Ahmed Said, who was the owner of the now-defunct Safari Restaurant in Minneapolis, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Minnesota. Bock, 44, and Said, 36, were charged with multiple criminal counts including conspiracy, wire fraud and bribery. Said was also charged with several counts of money laundering, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.
"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," Acting U.S. Attorney Lisa Kirkpatrick said in a statement. "The defendants falsely claimed to have served 91 million meals, for which they fraudulently received nearly $250 million in federal funds. That money did not go to feed kids. Instead, it was used to fund their lavish lifestyles."
The scheme was tied to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Federal Child Nutrition Program, which provides meals to children in need. The program, which expanded during the COVID-19 pandemic, allowed for-profit restaurants to run federally funded food distribution sites as long as a nonprofit organization sponsored them.
Prosecutors said restaurant owners and others bribed Feeding Our Future employees to get the organization to sponsor sham distribution sites. The participants then spent federal funds intended for the sites on personal purchases, including luxury cars, houses, jewelry, and resort property abroad.
The case drew further attention last year when five people were charged with conspiring to bribe a juror with a bag of $120,000. Thirty-seven defendants have already pleaded guilty in the case while five others have been convicted, according to prosecutors.
'Massive fraud scheme' under Feeding Our Future’s sponsorship
Prosecutors accused Bock and Said of overseeing a "massive fraud scheme carried out by sites under Feeding Our Future’s sponsorship." Feeding Our Future employees recruited restaurant owners and others to open food distribution sites across the state of Minnesota, according to prosecutors.
"These sites, created and operated by Bock, Said, and others, fraudulently claimed to be serving meals to thousands of children a day within just days or weeks of being formed," the U.S. Attorney's Office said.
As part of the scheme, prosecutors said Bock and Said submitted false documentation to the Minnesota Department of Education, including fraudulent meal counts and fake attendance rosters. The pair then disbursed the federal funds to their co-conspirators.
The pair also created dozens of shell companies to run the fake distribution sites and launder the proceeds of the scheme, according to prosecutors.
"In exchange for sponsoring these sites’ fraudulent participation in the program, Feeding Our Future received more than $18 million in administrative fees to which it was not entitled," the U.S. Attorney's Office said, adding that employees also solicited and received bribes and kickbacks.
Prosecutors said Feeding Our Future opened more than 250 Federal Child Nutrition Program sites, stealing $250 million.
Minneapolis restaurant owner claimed millions of meals were provided
Said, who owned and operated Safari Restaurant, enrolled his restaurant in the Federal Child Nutrition Program in April 2020. The restaurant was sponsored by Feeding Our Future, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors said that by July 2020, Said fraudulently claimed that the restaurant served meals to 5,000 children per day, seven days a week. In total, between April 2020 and November 2021, Said falsely claimed that the restaurant served over 3.9 million meals to children.
"Said also claimed that Safari Restaurant provided more than 2.2 million meals to other food sites involved in Feeding Our Future’s fraud scheme," prosecutors said.
Contributing: Kevin Johnson, Paste BN; Reuters