Judge clears way for Minnesota welfare fraud ringleader to forfeit Porsche, millions held in accounts
Aimee Bock, the alleged mastermind behind Minnesota’s $250 million Feeding Our Future fraud scandal tied to the Somali community, is facing forfeiture of a Porsche, property, designer handbags and millions of dollars after a federal judge approved a preliminary order.
A judge signed off on the preliminary forfeiture order last week, clearing the way for the government to seize assets that prosecutors say were purchased with ill-gotten taxpayer funds, according to MPR News, a Minnesota-based news outlet.
The assets include about $3.7 million in bank accounts and cash, a 2013 Porsche and luxury items taken from her home, according to MPR News. The U.S. attorney’s office listed the total forfeiture judgment at $5.2 million. Federal agents seized the assets in 2022, and the judge has now approved their forfeiture on a preliminary basis following Bock’s conviction.
A federal jury in March found Bock guilty on all counts she faced, including wire fraud, conspiracy and bribery. She is currently awaiting sentencing.
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Bock founded the Feeding Our Future nonprofit in 2016, and, for years, it operated modestly, handling roughly $3 million to $4 million annually in federal child nutrition reimbursements, according to prosecutors.
That trajectory changed abruptly during the COVID-19 pandemic, when emergency rule changes loosened oversight and allowed sponsors to submit claims without normal verification.
As executive director of Feeding Our Future, Bock approved meal sites, some of which were fake, and then certified the claims, signing off on the reimbursements from the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE).
She would soon preside over a network that claimed to have served 91 million meals, for which prosecutors say the scammers fraudulently received nearly $250 million in federal funds, a scale of growth that far outpaced the nonprofit’s pre-pandemic size and internal capacity.
Later filings and sentencing releases described the total impact as closer to $300 million. Attorney General Pam Bondi has suggested it may reach $400 million.
Prosecutors described Bock as the scheme’s gatekeeper who wielded near-total control over approvals and reimbursements that allowed the fraud to expand at a staggering pace.
She was also involved in a kickback scheme by accepting cash payments from meal site operators in exchange for site approvals and reimbursements, prosecutors said.
In 2021, when the MDE grew suspicious and tried to stop the flow of funds, Feeding Our Future sued, alleging racial discrimination.
Of the 78 defendants charged to date, 57 have been convicted, according to Bondi, who said that 72 of the defendants are of Somalian descent, while five defendants are "currently fugitives in Africa."