Jury selection begins Monday in the trial of Aimee Bock, the founder of Feeding Our Future, a non-profit at the center of what federal prosecutors allege was a massive scheme to defraud a federal child nutrition program during the COVID-19 pandemic, The Associated Press reports.
Bock and a co-defendant will be the second group to face trial in the case that prosecutors say siphoned $250 million meant to feed children.
Bock’s attorney, Kenneth Udoibok, maintains her innocence, despite the conviction of five individuals in the first trial. That earlier proceeding became notorious when some defendants and associates allegedly attempted to bribe a juror with $120,000 cash, an effort that backfired when the juror promptly reported the incident to law enforcement.
Bock is one of 70 defendants charged in the overall investigation, being tried in batches. Thirty of those defendants have already pleaded guilty to various charges, including some originally scheduled to stand trial with Bock. A defendant from the first trial recently received a 17 1/2-year prison sentence, the longest term handed down so far.
According to prosecutors, the alleged conspiracy revolved around Feeding Our Future and another non-profit, Partners in Nutrition. Both were approved as sponsors of the Federal Child Nutrition Program before the pandemic. However, prosecutors say they drastically inflated the number of meal sites they claimed to sponsor during the crisis. Feeding Our Future’s federal funding jumped from $3.4 million in 2019 to nearly $200 million in 2021, with sites falsely claiming to serve thousands of children daily, prosecutors allege. The scheme, according to federal investigators, also included the collection of administrative fees that the organizations were not entitled to receive.
Udoibok insists that Bock will be exonerated, arguing to the jury that she is distinct from the numerous defendants who have pleaded guilty. An attorney for Bock’s co-defendant, Salim Ahmed Said, declined to comment.
The brazen bribery attempt during the first trial led to five individuals being charged, including three who were on trial at the time. Two have pleaded guilty, and a third is expected to change his plea next month. US Attorney Andrew Luger described the elaborate scheme as “something out of a mob movie.” US District Judge Nancy Brasel has ordered extra security measures to protect the jurors’ identities and prevent any further bribery attempts.
The scandal surrounding the fraud has also had major political ramifications, since the federal funds passed through the state’s Department of Education. The loss of $250 million in taxpayer money became a major challenge for Democratic Governor Tim Walz. His administration has largely blamed federal authorities, citing the FBI’s request to avoid cutting off funds to protect the integrity of the investigation. Critics, however, insist that Walz should have taken more action. Though Walz comfortably won reelection in 2022, the issue resurfaced when Vice President Kamala Harris considered him as her running mate.
The Feeding Our Future case has fueled efforts by Republican lawmakers in the closely divided Minnesota Legislature to address government fraud and has become a political rallying point. Even Governor Walz has proposed his own anti-fraud package, but reaching a bipartisan agreement to pass any legislation in the contentious 2025 legislative session remains uncertain.
