MINNEAPOLIS – Aimee Bock, founder and executive director of the nonprofit Feeding Our Future, has been sentenced to 500 months in prison for her central role in a $250 million fraud scheme. The scheme exploited a federally funded child nutrition program during the COVID-19 pandemic, diverting funds intended for vulnerable Minnesota children, U.S. Attorney Daniel N. Rosen announced.
Bock, 44, along with co-defendant Salim Said, 36, oversaw a widespread operation involving sites under Feeding Our Future’s sponsorship. This prosecution aligns with the Department of Justice's new National Fraud Enforcement Division and President Trump’s Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, targeting those who defraud federal benefit programs.
Colin M. McDonald, Assistant Attorney General for the National Fraud Enforcement Division, said, “Over forty-one years in prison is the cost this fraudster will pay for stealing from children.” He noted Bock "pocketed the money to buy luxury vehicles, residential and commercial real estate in Minnesota, and finance international travel." Christopher D. Dotson, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Minneapolis Field Office, called it "one of the largest frauds against a social service program ever in Minnesota," adding, "Defrauding programs designed to feed hungry children is despicable."
The scheme involved recruiting individuals and entities to open Federal Child Nutrition Program sites across Minnesota. These sites, operated by Bock, Said, and others, submitted fraudulent claims for meals using fake attendance rosters. Feeding Our Future then disbursed these fraudulently obtained federal funds to co-conspirators.
To facilitate the fraud, Bock and her associates established dozens of shell companies to enroll as food program sites and launder proceeds. Feeding Our Future collected over $18 million in unentitled administrative fees and solicited bribes and kickbacks. The organization's federal funding surged from $3.4 million in 2019 to nearly $200 million in 2021, ultimately defrauding the program of over $240 million. Judge Nancy Brasel told Bock, “This was a fraud vortex and you were at the epicenter of it,” concluding that “A sentence of less than 500 months would not do justice to the people of Minnesota.”