This story comes to you from Sahan Journal, a nonprofit newsroom dedicated to covering Minnesota's immigrants and communities of color. United States v. Liban Yasin Alishire, et al., 22-CR-222 (NEB/TML), charges three defendants with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy to commit federal programs, federal programs bribery, and money laundering for their roles in the Federal Child Nutrition Program fraud scheme. Official websites use .gov She said Feeding Our Futures board of directors signed off on the project. It was a second-story apartment. But the case has highlighted how the governments reliance on nonprofits to help carry out an array of programs can increase vulnerability to fraud a problem that only increased over the past several years, as Washington pumped trillions of dollars into pandemic aid packages. To read that all of my hard work is being twisted into something that its not is hard. Feeding Our Futures share grew to about $19 million, which its founder and president, Aimee Bock, said she spent largely on salaries for her 80 employees and supplies for feeding sites. Were saying that MDE fed the federal government with bad information. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the USDA waived some of the standard requirements for participation in the Federal Child Nutrition Program. ", "It was like we have the female version of Robin Hood in Minnesota," Jamal said recently. After Feeding Our Future was raided, she said, a new sponsor called to recruit her and immediately offered a plan to fool the state. The site received more than $4 million in reimbursements, half of which was pocketed by the conspirators, according to the charges. Aimee Bock. and We did market analysis. Aimee Bock was the founder and executive director of Feeding Our Future, a nonprofit organization that was a sponsor participating in the Federal Child Nutrition Program. The two are part of an eight-person indictment alleging a $40 million fraud scheme. Meanwhile, Aimee Bock of Feeding Our Future has denied wrongdoing. Authorities. In 2021, when Feeding Our Future collected nearly $200 million in reimbursements, its share of the money amounted to $18 million, the charges say. I was not there. Feeding Our Future took millions in federal money in 2020. Is that a criminal act? Co-conspirators are accused of using tens of millions of dollars to fund international travel, buy luxury cars and purchase homes in Minnesota, Ohio, Kentucky and along the coasts of Kenya and Turkey. Some of them were start-up nonprofits that had sprung up during the pandemic and never served food before. Aimee Bock started the nonprofit in 2016 "to increase healthy food access for youth and senior[s]," she wrote in tax forms. It revealed a sprawling investigation into Advance Youth Athletic Development and other groups like it and the much larger nonprofit organization, Feeding Our Future, that was responsible for ensuring that the money provided to the smaller groups was spent properly. Aimee Bock (center in a white long sleeve shirt), executive director of Feeding Our Future, leaves the federal courthouse in downtown Minneapolis Tuesday evening with a garment draped over her head. Most defendants did not yet have an attorney. I need to see that it was cereal, that it was oatmeal, that it was something within the parameters of the meal requirements. Qamar Ahmed Hassan, owner and operator of S & S Catering Inc. in Minneapolis. It was just the business and the equipment, the stuff inside of it. Minnesotas attorney general, Keith Ellison, said on Thursday that he was conducting a separate investigation of the group to determine whether it had violated state nonprofit laws. Her payments went out after she had made the spot checks required under law that the portfolio services were performed. Instead, they prioritized their own greed, stealing more than a quarter of a billion dollars in federal funds to purchase luxury cars, houses, jewelry, and coastal resort property abroad. After the F.B.I. indictment: The following defendants are named in the United States v. Abdiaziz Shafii Farah, et al. But Bock said her new colleagues strongly encouraged her to bring the kids to one of the company's other suburban locations, explaining that Bock's sons would be the only white children in Burnsville. Authorities also seized $13,462 in cash from her. Bock: Unfortunately, [the Learning Journey] was something that took a decade or more to build. Udoibok called the disclosure of allegations without making charges or indictments grossly unfair to Bock. All that money, the DOJ claims, went to purchase everything from luxury vehicles and residential and commercial property in Minnesota to international travel and real estate in Kenya and Turkey. Aimee Bock's organization was keeping a low profile as it handled millions in government money when the video appeared on Facebook in January. Bock and others are accused of defrauding the Federal Child Nutrition Program, which is administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and helps bring free meals to children in need. No one has yet been charged in the case, and the leaders of Feeding Our Future, Advance Youth Athletic Development and other nonprofit groups have denied wrongdoing. Forty-seven people were indicted in connection to an alleged operation Attorney General Merrick Garland called the "largest pandemic relief fraud scheme charged to date". As the accused ringleader of a conspiracy that cost taxpayers $250 million, Bock, 41, is an unlikely criminal mastermind. Another operation, housed in the nearby Safari Restaurant, claimed to be feeding 6,000 children a day on its own more than the total number of children living in the restaurants ZIP code. "Their goal was to make as much money for themselves as they could while falsely claiming to feed children during the pandemic.". , Star Tribune The other pays for meals at summer activities. Aimee Bock, referenced in Friday's press release as Feeding Our Future's "embattled executive director," said in a statement . I know he went to Vegas. I commend the work of the skilled investigators and prosecutors who unraveled the lies, deception, and mountains of false documentation to bring this complex case to light.. "Aimee was absolutely energized by the legal maneuvering. "I've never even had detention," Bock said in a 2 12 -hour interview on Jan. 27, a week after the FBI raids. "It's no secret. To read that all of my hard work is being twisted into something that its not is hard. It purportedly showed one of Bock's employees receiving an astonishing wedding present: an ornamental cart, laden with so much gold that guests gathered around to see it up close. The defendants used the proceeds of their fraudulent scheme to purchase luxury vehicles, residential and commercial real estate in Minnesota as well as property in Ohio and Kentucky, real estate in Kenya and Turkey, and to fund international travel. Prosecutors contend that the leader of the scheme was Aimee Bock, executive director of Feeding Our Future, whom they accuse of personally recruiting many of the conspirators and knowingly submitting more than 125 million false meal claims. Based on their fraudulent claims, the defendants received more than $40 million in Federal Child Nutrition Program funds, which they misappropriated for their own personal benefit, including expenditures such as vehicles, travel, real estate, and property in Kenya. We were growing in site numbers, we were growing in staff size. , Star Tribune The owners of Brava Restaurant & Caf and other co-conspirators claimed to have served millions of meals from Brava Restaurant & Caf and falsely claimed to have a contract with Rochester Public Schools. . United States v. Abdiaziz Shafii Farah, et al., 22-CR-124 (NEB/TNL), charges eight defendants with conspiracy, wire fraud, federal programs bribery, and money laundering for their roles the Federal Child Nutrition Program fraud scheme. The defendants were charged with crimes including wire fraud, conspiracy, money laundering and bribery. Though some state legislators have faulted MDE for not acting more aggressively on its fraud suspicions, Luger declined to assess the department's oversight. Eidleh is accused of depositing more than $5 million in kickbacks, bribes and other fraud proceeds into bank accounts opened in the name of his shell companies. Rather than feed children, the defendants enriched themselves by fraudulently misappropriating millions of dollars in Federal Child Nutrition Program funds. Children were hungry. These defendants exploited a program designed to provide nutritious food to needy children during the COVID-19 pandemic. All of the rooms needed holes patched, ceiling tiles replaced, new flooring. Kelly Smith MDE did not respond to requests to comment for this story before press time. The high point of the evening came when a Somali woman performed a traditional buraanbur to honor Bock, praising her as "a woman who cannot be targeted. "I am the white lady," Bock said in the interview. Bock said the decision to hire her boyfriends company for the work came in a bidding process that saw three or four companies bid for the job. Feeding Our Future may reject a nonprofits application for reimbursement if the documentation shows it didnt provide enough complete mealsfor example if it didnt buy enough milk for the number of children it said it served, Bock said. No charges have been filed against Bock, Feeding our Future, or anyone else named in the search warrants. All of that had to be built up from the ground. They specifically take issue with how federal authorities made the allegations against Bock and others public before making any criminal charges or indictments in the case. She has denied wrongdoing and argued that if fraud occurred, it was without her knowledge. We had no grocery stores on Lake Street. Instead of signing up 100 or more centers, as they hoped, just 18 new centers joined Providers Choice in 2015, state records show. The other reality is due to the COVID pandemic, the USDA issued waivers that allow parent pickup as well as home delivery. Self-professed "rule follower" Aimee Bock has become the face of a $250 million food fraud case. Men named in Feeding Our Future investigation donated to Frey campaign, records show, Teen gets 24 years for murder outside Richfield school, Hoax calls regarding school shootings in Minnesota under investigation by BCA, Transgender woman violently attacked at Minneapolis light rail station. If the allegation was there is a deposit of $310,000 in the account that is unaccounted for, thats a fair, objective statement. Aimee Bock was the founder and executive director of Feeding Our Future, a nonprofit organization that was a sponsor participating in the Federal Child Nutrition Program. Shell companies were allegedly created to enroll in the program as sites, too, and additional shell companies were made to launder the money all these sites claimed was going to feed hungry kids. The indictments charge Bock with overseeing a massive fraud scheme carried out by sites under Feeding Our Future's sponsorship. Advance Youth Athletic Developments site the location that turned out to be a second-story apartment had obtained nonprofit status in June, using a fast-track I.R.S. If its a conflict of interest, thats a whole different story. The FBI didnt have enough time to investigate. ". Our Wilmar site was delivering meals to children that live outside of Wilmar. As for Bock, she doesn't have a lawyer in the civil case and has not responded to the lawsuit. Bock told Sahan Journal during the interview that she hadnt seen the lawsuit yet and reiterated that she no longer owns the daycare business listed at the address. raids, news coverage by The Star-Tribune and Sahan Journal, a local nonprofit media outlet, has revealed that some of the operators of Feeding Our Future sites had criminal records, and that a former top aide to Mayor Jacob Frey of Minneapolis, a Democrat, was among those under investigation. Instead of feeding the future, they chose to steal from the future. The 100 Greatest TV Shows of All Time The indictments charge Bock with overseeing a massive fraud scheme carried out by sites under Feeding Our Future's sponsorship. The defendants exploited changes in the program intended to ensure underserved children received adequate nutrition during the COVID-19 pandemic. Feeding Our Future's founder and executive director, Aimee Bock, was among those indicted, and authorities say she and others in her organization submitted the fraudulent claims for. Feeding Our Future's three board members voted in February to dissolve the organization in part because its bank accounts had been frozen by the federal probe. The search warrant alleges Bocks boyfriend spent some of this money on a Las Vegas trip where he paid $21,000 on a rental car, $9,000 at Caesars Palace, $6,700 at Gucci, and $3,500 at Louis Vuitton. Bock: If we have an invoice that just simply says breakfast, that doesnt tell me enough. Within months, however, Twait and Bock became frustrated by the pace of change and chose to leave and start their own nonprofit. As part of a "pay-to-play" scheme, Bock and other company employees solicited and received bribes from people and companies seeking to join the fast-growing criminal enterprise, according to the charges. After they present her with the award, they begin hugging her, giving her high fives and chanting her name. So when I was approached about selling it, it was a relief. For example, one roster was created using names from a website called www.listofrandomnames.com. Because the program only reimbursed for meals served to children, other defendants used an Excel formula to insert a random age between seven and 17 into the age column of the rosters. But if there was fraud, she added, every test we have in place and every protection we have in place didnt catch it. The FBIs Persecution of Sidney Poitier. She has to defend herself against the search warrants, and the search warrants took liberties, significant liberties, factually.. Feeding Our Future's share grew to about $19 million, which its founder and president, Aimee Bock, said she spent largely on salaries for her 80 employees and supplies for feeding. The feds have the purchase agreement, they have it all. Following the search warrant operation, Bock defended Feeding Our Future and denied allegations of fraud in an interview with a local Minnesota outlet, the Sahan Journal. We want to hear it. "I don't think I ever cried so hard," Bock said. But investigators found impossible fluctuations in the ages of the students listed on the rosters, noting that some kids went from 8 to 12 years old in a matter of months. Now Bock and her Feeding Our Future co-workers are at the center of a massive criminal probe . From 2019 to 2021, the number of children in Feeding Our Futures network increased to about 400,000, from about 4,000, according to state records. Concludes with Low Confidence That Covid Came from a Lab Leak The structure, they say, rewards sponsors that pursue bigger networks and larger checks instead of those who crack down on fraud a problem that has been evident for decades. In court filings, the F.B.I. Her trial is set to begin in September. Bock paid the money to Handy Helpers, a company run by her boyfriend, which she said did extensive and ongoing remodeling on roughly 10,000 square feet of office space in Feeding Our Futures St. Anthony headquarters. School was out. In a phone interview, he provided the following comment: "Ms. Bock has not been charged with any offense. Federal prosecutors have indicted 47 people in connection with an alleged fraud scheme that saw $250 million, meant to help feed hungry kids in Minnesota, instead go to luxury cars, commercial real estate, and vacation homes. But Bock was clear-eyed about what she considers her mission in life, which she described as finding a way to help level the field for immigrants and other people of color. Aimee McEnroe-Bock. It consisted of a kitchen upgrade, which is still in process. 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