Minneapolis Jury Convicts Aimee Bock, Feeding Our Future 'Mastermind'

MINNEAPOLIS — A federal jury on Wednesday convicted the "mastermind" and her co-defendant behind the $250 million Feeding Our Future fraud scheme, which exploited a federally funded child nutrition program during the COVID-19 pandemic.

After a six-week trial, Aimee Bock, 44, was found guilty of four counts of wire fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, one count of bribery, and one count of conspiracy to commit federal programs bribery.

Her co-defendant, Salim Said, 36, was convicted of one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, four counts of wire fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit federal programs bribery, eight counts of bribery, one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, and five counts of money laundering.

A sentencing hearing has not yet been scheduled.

"Aimee Bock and Salim Said took advantage of the Covid-19 pandemic to carry out a massive fraud scheme that stole money meant to feed children," said Acting U.S. Attorney Lisa D. Kirkpatrick.

"The defendants falsely claimed to have served 91 million meals, for which they fraudulently received nearly $250 million in federal funds. That money did not go to feed kids. Instead, it was used to fund their lavish lifestyles. Today’s verdict sends a message to the community that fraud against the government will not be tolerated."

According to authorities, the two used proceeds from the scheme to purchase luxury vehicles, real estate in Minnesota, Ohio, and Kentucky, as well as properties in Kenya and Turkey. Funds were also used to finance international travel.

Loosened Pandemic Rules Allowed the Fraud

The Federal Child Nutrition Program historically provided meals to children through school-based programs and activities. However, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) waived certain requirements, allowing:

• For-profit restaurants to participate in the program.
• Off-site meal distribution to children outside of educational programs.

These relaxed rules created opportunities for fraud, which prosecutors say Bock and Said exploited on a massive scale.

How the Scheme Worked

Bock was the founder and executive director of Feeding Our Future, a nonprofit organization that sponsored sites participating in the Federal Child Nutrition Program. Said, a former co-owner of Safari Restaurant, was one of those site operators.

According to prosecutors, the pair oversaw a widespread scheme in which they and their co-conspirators:

• Recruited individuals and entities to establish nutrition program sites across Minnesota.
• Fraudulently claimed they were serving meals to thousands of children daily, often within days or weeks of forming.
• Submitted falsified documentation, including fake attendance rosters listing children who never received meals.

Feeding Our Future then submitted these false claims to the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE), which disbursed federal funds.

The organization kept millions in administrative fees and funneled money to its co-conspirators.

Shell Companies, Kickbacks, and Lavish Spending

Authorities said Bock and Said created dozens of shell companies to enroll in the program and launder proceeds from the fraud.

Feeding Our Future collected more than $18 million in administrative fees it wasn’t entitled to and solicited bribes and kickbacks from sponsored sites, authorities said. Many of these payments were made in cash or disguised as “consulting fees” to shell companies created by Feeding Our Future employees.

Said's Safari Restaurant, which previously reported $600,000 in annual revenue, saw an enormous surge in business after enrolling in the nutrition program in April 2020.

By July 2020, Said claimed to be serving 5,000 children per day, seven days a week.

Between April 2020 and November 2021, Safari Restaurant:

• Claimed to have served over 3.9 million meals.
• Claimed to have provided 2.2 million additional meals to other fraudulent sites.

In total, Feeding Our Future sponsored more than 250 sites across Minnesota.

The organization’s federal funding skyrocketed from $3.4 million in 2019 to nearly $200 million in 2021.

By the time the scheme was uncovered, the organization had fraudulently obtained and disbursed more than $240 million in Federal Child Nutrition Program funds, authorities said.