The founder of a Minnesota food program that bilked taxpayers out of $250 million has been slapped with 41 years in prison for a fraud that prosecutors say took food out of the mouths of hungry kids.
Aimee Bock, 45, was handed the stiff sentence on Tuesday after being convicted of all counts last March – prosecutors describing her as the “ringleader” of the biggest pandemic-era fraud schemes in the country.
Most of the other defendants in the case are Somali immigrants, and the recipients of the aid were meant to be members of the Somali community in Minnesota.
She will also be required to pay $5.2 million in restitution.
Bock and her convicted co-defendant, Salim Said, falsely claimed to have served 91 million meals, and used the quarter-billion dollars in federal funds to bankroll their lavish lifestyles, Acting US Attorney Lisa D. Kirkpatrick said at the time of their convictions.
Bock used the ill-gotten funds to buy opulent cars, including a Porsche Panamera, which range in price from around $110,000 to over $230,000, as well as some 60 laptops, iPads and iPhones, a diamond necklace, bracelet and earrings and designer handbags.
Investigators said Feeding Our Future went from receiving $3 million in federal aid to more than $200 million in 2021, but when the Minnesota Department of Education started asking questions about the rapid increase, Bock filed a lawsuit against the state agency, and the cash kept rolling in.
The taxpayer money was only cut off after the FBI, IRS, and other federal agencies executed raids at 26 locations across Minnesota, believed to be engaging in fraudulent activity, in January 2022.
During Bock’s trial, at least six email and text message exchanges between her and Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar were revealed.
Bock said that the far-left “Squad” member was instrumental in loosening laws that set the stage for the scheme — initially by introducing the MEALS Act to Congress in 2020, which allowed the US Department of Agriculture to issue waivers of school meal requirements during the pandemic.
The waivers sharply diminished oversight of federal food programs by allowing restaurants to participate without the usual site inspections.
In a jailhouse interview with The Post as she awaited sentencing last week, Bock revealed Omar would personally step in whenever the waivers ran out, which allowed the fraud to continue unabated.
“There had been a couple times early on that there were some gaps – a waiver would be set to expire on maybe the 15th of a month, and then the renewal didn’t kick in until the 1st,” Bock claimed. “Because of course this was supposed to be a short-term thing . . . we were supposed to be home for two weeks,” she said.
She said she would “struggle to believe” the controversial rep. — whose net worth mysteriously jumped from nearly nothing to over $30 million in 2024 — wouldn’t have known about the scheme.
So far, 79 people have been charged in connection with the Feeding Our Future fraud scheme, with more than 60 convictions.
