Feeding Our Future: Opening statements in Aimee Bock trial

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - In the opening statements of the trial of Aimee Bock and Salim Said, an assistant U.S. attorney described "a brazen scheme - so bold, big and effective - that in a matter of months they had stolen a quarter of a billion dollars."

And prosecutor Daniel Bobier said "the head of the scheme was Aimee Bock."

Timeline:

When COVID-19 struck in the early spring of 2020, the USDA relaxed its rules around the child nutrition program to ensure that kids, who were now learning from home, still had access to meals.

Aimee Bock’s Feeding Our Future, as a sponsor for meal sites, oversaw only a few daycares.

But then she quickly began adding more meal sites, ultimately more than 200, and Bobier told jurors she "transformed a sleepy non-profit into an engine for the largest COVID fraud in this country."

Feeding Our Future was raided by the FBI in early 2022, ultimately leading to nearly 50 people charged - of them, seven were already tried in 2024, five of them found guilty. Dozens more have taken plea deals and admitted guilt.

‘Clever liars’

The other side:

Aimee Bock’s defense attorney told jurors in his opening statement that "Ms. Bock should not be responsible for the actions of others."

Attorney Kenneth Udoibok said she was the victim of "clever liars" and didn’t know the meal claims were fabricated. He also said she had little contact with the meal sites and her own employees who inspected them also lied to her.

"She should not be held responsible for what she didn’t do, what she didn't know, what she didn’t participate in," he said.

He also blamed the Minnesota Department of Education, who processed the claims, saying they allowed the fraud to continue. When Bock brought concerns of fraud to MDE, they did little.

The prosecution says that in reality, Bock was reporting meal sites that stopped giving her bribes in the form of kickbacks.

What's next:

Bock is on trial with Salim Said, who is described as one of the largest alleged co-conspirators with Bock.

He claimed to feed thousands of meals a day from his Safari Restaurant in Minneapolis, then opening more meal sites across the state under his own non-profit.

The first witness on the stand was a U.S. Postal Inspector who testified about the mountain of documents they seized during search warrants, which are key to the government’s case.

They also will call former meal site operators and Feeding Our Future employees, some of whom who are testifying as part of plea deals, to describe what they saw and how Aimee Bock participated.

The backstory:

In a trial brief filed in mid-January, federal prosecutors recapped the case against Bock and her codefendant in this trial, a man named Salim 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 6000 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 FOF fraud scheme

What's next:

So far, of the 70 people indicted by the US Attorney, at least 30 have pleaded guilty.

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.