'Relentless' fraudster or victim? Trial of Feeding Our Future leader opens with competing stories

Two sharply different portraits of Aimee Bock emerged Monday in federal court, where the trial of the woman accused of orchestrating a $250 million pay-to-play fraud scheme through her nonprofit, Feeding Our Future, is now underway.

Federal prosecutors said Bock took advantage of the COVID-19 pandemic to create a criminal network of food distribution sites that pretended to feed thousands of low-income children each day, fraudulently earning millions of dollars in government reimbursements and at least $1.3 million for Bock.

Prosecutors say it was one of the country's largest pandemic-related fraud schemes, with participants paying Bock and her underlings bribes to participate. If they balked, Bock threatened to rat them out to the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE), prosecutors claim.

"She was relentless," Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel Bobier said in his 45-minute opening statement. "She didn't just facilitate the fraud. She fought for it. And when MDE raised concerns about Feeding Our Future and the massive claims coming, Aimee Bock went to war. She attacked MDE in the public, in the media, in the courts. Her strategy was clear: Attack, attack, attack."

Bock's defense attorney, Kenneth Udoibok, said the evidence shows just the opposite. He described Bock as a conscientious administrator surrounded by unscrupulous people who took advantage of her desire to help the underprivileged and routinely lied to cover their tracks.

Udoibok said at least 10 of the people who pleaded guilty in the case and have been identified as potential witnesses for the government had their contracts terminated by Bock because she suspected them of fraud.

"Miss Bock is innocent. She should not be responsible for the crimes of someone else," Udoibok said in his 75-minute opening statement. "She did not receive kickbacks or bribes. ... The evidence will show people lied to Miss Bock. Evidence will show they betrayed her trust."

Also on trial is Salim Said, who controlled three organizations — including the now-defunct Safari Restaurant in south Minneapolis — that collectively received more than $30 million by defrauding the federal government's meals program, making him one of the single biggest beneficiaries of the conspiracy, prosecutors said.

"Salim Said created an empire designed for one purpose: To rip out of the federal child nutrition program every dollar he could get," Bobier said.

The case centers around meal programs funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to feed low-income children after school and during the summer. Meal distribution sites are overseen by "sponsors," like Feeding Our Future.

Bock's St. Anthony nonprofit oversaw more than 200 food distribution sites across Minnesota and quickly grew — from receiving about $3 million in federal funds in 2019 to nearly $200 million in 2021.

"She got power," Bobier told the jury. "She decided who would be in this scheme and who would not. ... That is corruption. That is fraud on an order of magnitude this state has never seen."

Said's food distribution sites had locations in Minneapolis, St. Paul, St. Cloud, Mankato, Waite Park and Willmar.

"We wouldn't be here today unless there was some evidence that a crime has occurred," said Said's attorney, Adrian LaFavor-Montez, who spoke for five minutes. "But the government has to prove what that crime was and who did it. If you pay attention to the players in this case, I am confident you will find Mr. Said not guilty."

Four more defendants plead guilty

The trial, which could last a month, is only the second in the massive case since the FBI began investigating Feeding Our Future in 2021.

Of the 70 people charged since 2022, 34 have pleaded guilty, including four defendants just last week. Abduljabar Hussein, 44, of Shakopee, a food vendor and the husband of a nonprofit leader, was one of those who pleaded guilty. Prosecutors said the couple paid Bock at least $12,000 in kickbacks.

Three other defendants connected to a Rochester restaurant — Zamzam Jama, 50, of Rochester; Asha Jama, 42, of Lakeville; and Mustafa Jama, 48, of Rochester — also pleaded guilty.

Joe Thompson, the government's lead prosecutor, said Monday that Bock was offered a plea deal last week that would have likely resulted in a prison sentence of 25 years but she did not respond to the offer.

Of the defendants who have pleaded guilty or been convicted, only three have been sentenced, including Sharon Ross, 54, of Willernie, a St. Paul nonprofit leader who was sentenced last week to 3½ years in prison. She also owes $2.4 million in restitution.

The federal government has seized more than $66 million in the case overall.

Last year, five defendants tied to a Shakopee restaurant were convicted by a jury, and two were acquitted. That trial ended with an attempted bribe of a juror, a rare event that drew international media attention and led to jurors being sequestered for their safety. Security measures are being bolstered in this month's trial as a result.

'Largest COVID fraud in this country'

So far, Bock's defense has concentrated on her communication with the Education Department, which unsuccessfully tried to shut down Feeding Our Future in 2020 and alerted the FBI of its suspicions in early 2021.

"The evidence will show that MDE lied," Udoibok said. "They lied about the food programs. They lied to the federal government. They lied to Miss Bock, just to cover their rear end. ... MDE failed to do their jobs. They made the problem worse."

Udoibok said several confessed conspirators who were terminated from the food program by Bock moved to other sponsors and continued to win reimbursements from MDE, despite Bock's allegations of wrongdoing.

But prosecutors said Bock only threatened to expose her alleged co-conspirators to keep them in line.

"Aimee Bock sat at the top of the scheme," Bobier said. "No decisions were made without her, no sites allowed on board, no claims approved. It was Aimee Bock who, overnight, transformed a sleepy nonprofit into an engine for the largest COVID fraud in this country."

When MDE threatened to shut her down, Bobier said, Bock went to her co-conspirators and got them to publicly protest against the department, claiming it was discriminating against the Black community.

"MDE wasn't discriminating against Aimee Bock or her sites," Bobier said. "She knew that. She waged a campaign of intimidation so she and her sites could do as they pleased ... and bled the system dry."