Feeding Our Future trial: Aimee Bock defends herself

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - Aimee Bock kept her tone calm and methodical, only briefly showing a touches of emotion during a long day on the witness stand during her own trial.

She contended that wire fraud was committed by other people who simply copied her on emails, that she never demanded bribes or kickbacks, and that there was no agreement with anyone to do either of those things.

READ MORE: Feeding Our Future trial: Aimee Bock takes the stand

Insists massive claims were justified 

What we know:

Bock testified that the rapid growth of Feeding Our Future, founded in 2018, had everything to do with the demand for food, not a scheme to defraud the government.

The number of meal sites grew from a few dozen to a few hundred because "there was record high unemployment," she said. "There were people experiencing needs that they had not typically experienced."

Earlier in the trial, prosecutors had shown how she approved 21 meal sites along a 1.8 mile stretch of Lake Street, which together claimed to serve as many kids as there were in the entire Minneapolis school district.

Bock said this was because three grocery stores in the area were damaged during the George Floyd riots.

"This large area became what’s known as a food desert," she testified.

Putting the blame on others

What else to know:

Bock also testified about the large number of employees at Feeding Our Future, growing to over 100, who were responsible for supervising meal sites and processing claims.

She hired a trainer, wrote procedure manuals and held open houses to make sure participants knew what to do.   But others handled the rosters, meal counts and invoices.

Addressing emails that contained a fraudulent attachments, she blamed her chargers on the fact that she was copied on the emails.

"I didn’t ask for it, I had no way not to receive it," she said.  "And now I’m charged with a federal crime because somebody choose to email me something."

But prosecutors have made clear in previous testimony that Bock sent those claims to the state and they contend she knew they were fraudulent, therefore she did commit wire fraud. 

The fact that they were originally sent to her is the conspiracy.

Bock will return 

What's next:

Bock will return to the witness stand on Friday morning for more direct questioning from her own defense attorney.

Once prosecutors get the chance to cross-examine her, the exchanges could become far more contentious as they will focus more on other witness allegations that she knew what was happening.

Once she’s done, attorneys for Salim Said, also on trial, still have their own case to present.