Feeding Our Future fraud: Federal trial begins for organization's founder
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - The founder and executive director of Feeding Our Future will go to trial on Monday on federal wire fraud and bribery charges.
Aimee Bock, who is listed as defendant No. 1 in the Feeding Our Future indictments, will go to trial on Feb. 3, along with her codefendant Salim Said. Bock is considered the highest profile defendant in a large scheme that prosecutors say "used the Federal Child Nutrition Program funds they received as a slush fund to enrich themselves, rather than to feed children."
Aimee Bock's trial begins Monday

Aimee Bock, founder of Feeding Our Future. (Photo by Shari L. Gross/Star Tribune via Getty Images) ((Photo by Shari L. Gross/Star Tribune via Getty Images))
All 12 jurors and four alternates were seated Monday for Bock's trial in the Feeding Our Future scam.
The trial will continue Feb. 10 and is expected to last about four weeks.
The backstory:
In a trial brief filed in mid-January, federal prosecutors recapped the case against Bock and Said. It says that during the COVID-19 pandemic, "Bock and her company recruited individuals and entities to open more than 200 Federal Child Nutrition Program sites throughout the state of Minnesota."
It also says that Feeding Our Future "fraudulently obtained and disbursed more than $240 million in Federal Child Nutrition Program funds during the Covid-19 pandemic."
Said, standing trial with Bock, was co-owner of the Safari Restaurant off Lake Street in Minneapolis, which was one of the supposed meal sites.
One meal count form which is used as evidence shows Safari claiming to feed 6,000 children per day during one week in February 2021.
Prosecutors say little or no meals were served, and the money was funneled to shell companies to be laundered.
Plea deals, guilty verdicts in Feeding Our Future fraud scheme
By the numbers:
So far, of the 70 people indicted by the U.S. Attorney in this fraud scheme. Thirty have pleaded guilty.
Five were found guilty at a trial in June 2024.
READ MORE: Feeding Our Future juror bribe: Texts reveal details of plot, prosecutors say
Some of them are expected to testify against Bock and Said. According to the trial brief, they say their claims "were grossly inflated and that, in reality, they only served a fraction of the food they claimed to have served (if they served any food at all)."
What's next:
Many more defendants wait for trial or may still get plea deals. The government has tried to recover money, which they say in some cases was sent overseas, but only a portion of the funds have been recovered.
So far, of the alleged $240 to $250 million lost, about $50 million has been recovered.