Since 2010, shes covered Greater Minnesota on the state/region team, Hennepin County government, west metro suburban government and west metro K-12 education. Eidleh could not be reached for comment and court records indicate he does not have an attorney yet. Contact Information . I wish that the government had taken that into consideration when making this allegation. Children were hungry. Bock: Its important to paint the context of the time that those meals were served. That site (Safari Restaurant) was so busy that at one point they had a waiver for traffic because the streets were being blocked with families coming to get meals for their children. Absolutely. Because of that, my client is maligned, Udoibok said. 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. Self-professed "rule follower" Aimee Bock has become the face of a $250 million food fraud case. Aimee Bock's organization was keeping a low profile as it handled millions in government money when the video appeared on Facebook in January. Five days later, the FBI raided Bock's home and a sprawling government investigation went public. Providers didn't see the same problem. Because if you are, I might get raided.. Trending It was a free-for-all.". Thats my opinion. 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. I was not there. Aimee Bock, referenced in Friday's press release as Feeding Our Future's "embattled executive director," said in a statement . none of the money has been used to feed children"; the scheme is going"; and nearly all $244 million was illegally converted to personal use, according to the FBI. Though these changes were approved to ostensibly make access to food easier during the pandemic, authorities argue that Feeding Our Future exploited them to make off with millions. "One of the approaches that we had was that we would grow carefully and slowly, enough that we would be able to ensure the success of any center that we brought on," said Gail Birch, founder and former CEO of Providers Choice. The revenue flowing through its network increased to $197 million from $3.5 million. Energy Dept. 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. 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. Based on their fraudulent claims, the defendants received more than $32 million in Federal Child Nutrition Program funds, which they misappropriated for their own personal benefit, including expenditures such as vehicles, real estate, and travel. Im not sure how they would determine that the money came from the child nutrition program, because by the time food distributors get the money, its their general fund money. The indictments charge Bock with overseeing a massive fraud scheme carried out by sites under Feeding Our Futures sponsorship. Furthermore, Bock says most of the people targeted in the search warrants work for smaller, immigrant-owned food distributors, but that most of the child nutrition money that flows through Feeding Our Future actually gets spent on food from large chain stores. Feeding Our Future ceased to exist as a corporate entity more than a year ago. This story comes to you from Sahan Journal, a nonprofit newsroom dedicated to covering Minnesota's immigrants and communities of color. Official websites use .gov In addition to the administrative fees, Feeding Our Future employees solicited and received bribes and kickbacks from individuals and companies sponsored by Feeding Our Future. The Federal Child Nutrition Program, administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), is a federally-funded program designed to provide free meals to children in need. Three FBI search warrant affidavits, unsealed last month in federal court, allege that Bock participated in a wide scheme defrauding the federal government of millions of dollars earmarked for feeding underserved children. "I don't have a criminal mind," Bock said. Bock said she wasnt part of the decision to hire her boyfriend. Bock: I think the feds are acting on bad intel. 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. Most defendants did not yet have an attorney. See Photos. In an interview, Ms. Bock said she did not believe anyone in her network had cheated the system. I dont recall the date off the top of my head. In Minnesota, state regulators had grown alarmed by Feeding Our Futures growth and lack of financial controls by summer 2020, a spokeswoman for the states Department of Education said. "These 47 defendants engaged in a brazen scheme of staggering proportions," Luger said, hours before charges against another defendant were unsealed. 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. To carry out the scheme, the defendants also created and submitted false documentation. But there were puzzling features at some of the groups new sites. "We are pleased by the thorough cooperation we got from MDE throughout this investigation.". After becoming an approved sponsor in 2018, Feeding Our Future battled state regulators over its explosive growth plans, filing a lawsuit that ultimately forced the department to approve dozens of sites that had been held up in the approval process for months. Tuesday's arrests mark the latest high-profile chapter in a federal probe that started more than a year ago and included a sweeping FBI search warrant operation in January that spilled into public view. Its the beginning of the criminal process. "That is not for me to say," Luger said. In all, more than 200 investigators from the F.B.I. As alleged, the defendants charged in this case chose to enrich themselves at the expense of children. . All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law. That was happening simultaneously as Feeding Our Future was growing and needed my full-time attention. In a statement, Attorney General Merrick Garland described the alleged plot as the largest pandemic relief fraud scheme charged to date.. As weve returned to normal, now their size is not that large. Feeding Our Future breaks down to 10 percent. Nur could not be reached for comment. Kelly Smith 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. Udoibok: No. Aimee Bockhol. The feds have the purchase agreement, they have it all. Last week, the landlord of the Burnsville building listed as The Learning Journey filed an eviction lawsuit against Bock and others, alleging $30,000 in unpaid rent since October 2021. When the pandemic hit, Feeding Our Futures world changed. The meal sites allegedly submitted fake invoices purporting to document their food purchases. Everyone says kids [of color] are left behind. Though some state legislators have faulted MDE for not acting more aggressively on its fraud suspicions, Luger declined to assess the department's oversight. Its been an expansive, ongoing multi-year project. Authorities. Aimee Marie Bock, 41, of Apple Valley, Minnesota, is charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy to commit federal programs bribery, federal programs bribery. Many of the kickbacks were paid in cash or disguised as "consulting fees" paid to shell companies created by Feeding Our Future employees to conceal the true nature of the payments and make them appear legitimate, the indictment alleges. Farah's attorney, Andrew Birrell, said in a statement Tuesday: "We have been conducting our own parallel investigation since the execution of the search warrants in January. Partners complained that Feeding Our Future was breaking the rules by initiating contact with its providers, which is forbidden, but state regulators dismissed the complaint in 2020, saying the allegations "could not be substantiated," records show. Meals funded by the Federal Child Nutrition Program are served by sites. Each site participating in the program must be sponsored by an authorized sponsoring organization. It was just the business and the equipment, the stuff inside of it. The site received more than $4 million in reimbursements, half of which was pocketed by the conspirators, according to the charges. Poor people," Nur said. The indictment says Feeding Our Future also opened its own federal food aid sites in Minneapolis and Burnsville that falsely claimed to serve meals to thousands of children a day, seven days a week. "She was the ideal candidate," Twait recalled recently. and 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. Bock benefitted from the expanding fees collected by Feeding Our Future, which typically kept 10% to 15% of all reimbursement payments for administrative purposes, according to the charges. Over the course of the fraud scheme, the defendants claimed to have served millions of meals. "I am a rule follower People are going to believe what they want to believe. Assistant U.S. In a phone interview, he provided the following comment: "Ms. Bock has not been charged with any offense. Twait blamed the slow pace on Providers Choice's insistence on documenting eligibility at levels above those required by the government. They couldn't be reached for comment. These are for-profit entities, and what they do with their money is outside the scope of what Feeding Our Future manages. The F.B.I. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. But to say stole? Founder of Feeding our Future Rosemount, Minnesota, United . Click below to read the full indictment in the case against Feeding Our Future founder Aimee Marie Bock, and 13 others. Anytime theres a conflict of interest, the people involved in the conflict are removed from the decision. Though her live-in boyfriend is a convicted felon, Bock's most serious offense is speeding. Shes met all her burden under the law. The defendants submitted false invoices purporting to document the purchase of food to be served to children at the sites. 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., While Tuesdays sweeping indictments are a massive breakthrough, the case against Feeding Our Future has been building for several years. Udoibok:Feeding Our Future and Ms. Bock only paid based on receipts and evidence of service performed. "They had a different opinion.". No, said Lul Mohamoud, a neighbor in the apartment across the hall, when asked if she had ever seen 5,000 children there. She really thrives on difficult conversations.". All I could see were the spotlight and three guns, and they were just shouting, Get down here! Feeding Our Future sued the state and claimed the education department was discriminating against a nonprofit that worked with racial minorities after the department halted payments to the nonprofit by early 2021. Over the course of the fraud scheme, the defendants claimed to have served millions of meals. Feeding Our Future was founded in 2016 as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Bock told the Star Tribune earlier this year that she never stole money or saw evidence of fraud among her subcontractors. In Minnesota, the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) administers and oversees the Federal Child Nutrition Program. Now Bock and her Feeding Our Future co-workers are at the center of a massive criminal probe, accused of collecting more than $5 million in bribes, kickbacks, and other fraud proceeds as part of a wide-reaching conspiracy to defraud public nutrition programs, according to indictments unsealed by federal prosecutors last week. The state has also sought to cut ties with a second sponsor called Partners in Quality Care, which had supervised some of the nonprofits that worked with Feeding Our Future. The F.B.I. Is that a criminal act? They claimed to have served 3.9 million meals to children between April 2020 and November 2021, propped up by fake attendance rosters, prosecutors contend. It wasnt real estate. The following defendants are named in the United States v. Aimee Marie Bock, et al. Log In. Bock oversaw the $240 million fraud scheme carried out by sites under Feeding Our Future's . Floor leveling that had to be done. A former teacher, Bock's full name is Aimee Marie Bock. I dont get to call my electrician and say, Hey, I know you profited off of the work you did for me, how are you spending the money? I dont get to call the Sams Clubs and Costcos that have gotten money for the food and say, What are you buying with your profit? Bock said the $310,000 was for the purchase of a childcare center called The Learning Journey that she founded years ago but never got around to opening. If youre buying doughnuts, that doesnt count. "It's no secret. To get reimbursed, Bock said the nonprofits must submit documentation to Feeding Our Future, including the menu of meals theyve served, the number of meals served, receipts for the meals, and, sometimes, attendance records of the children served. "We cannot close our eyes to such corruption which will put our entire community's name in the news as fraudsters and criminals when we only have a few bad apples," Nur posted. We are in charge of monitoring our nonprofit partners. Minneapolis, MN 55416 United States. Bock appeared in court Tuesday afternoon and pleaded not guilty. Cracking down on the misuse of pandemic assistance, the agency says nonprofits in the Minneapolis area siphoned off tens of millions of dollars. Starting in 2020, Congress poured money into the feeding programs and allowed the Agriculture Department to waive rules that had been put in place after previous scandals to make sure states watched the watchdogs. Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) officials began questioning Bock about the sudden boom in sites that her organization sponsored in 2020. In fact, its the opposite. Get your hands up!. The owner of Hajis Kitchen LLC and other co-conspirators enrolled in the Federal Child Nutrition Program under the sponsorship of Feeding Our Future and Sponsor A. I think that bad intel was intentionally provided by the Department of Education. Exploiting a government program intended to feed children at the time of a national crisis is the epitome of greed, said Special Agent in Charge Justin Campbell of the IRS Criminal Investigation, Chicago Field Office. Secure .gov websites use HTTPS The FBIs Persecution of Sidney Poitier. If the allegation was there is a deposit of $310,000 in the account that is unaccounted for, thats a fair, objective statement. He said his goal was to understand why this system failed and collapsed completely. Kelly Smithcovers nonprofits/philanthropy for the Star Tribune and is based in Minneapolis. Said and Salah sent much of the $16 million to co-conspirators via shell companies used to launder proceeds, according to the charges. Based on their fraudulent claims, the defendants received more than $25 million in Federal Child Nutrition Program funds, which they misappropriated for their own personal benefit, including expenditures such as vehicles, real estate, and travel. Based on the groups claims, the State of Minnesota channeled $3.2 million of the federal food aid to the program. What does that mean? Subscribe Unlock nonprofit financial insights that will help you make more informed decisions. I believe this is an attack on the community. Good luck. No. Feeding Our Future executive director Aimee Bock did not respond to calls for comment Thursday evening. Regardless of whether hes my boyfriend, I have no say. A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States. When MDE attempted to perform necessary oversight regarding the number of sites and amount of claims being submitted, Bock and Feeding Our Future gave false assurances that they were monitoring the sites under its sponsorship and that the sites were serving the meals as claimed. Feeding Our Future went from receiving and disbursing approximately $3.4 million in federal funds in 2019 to nearly $200 million in 2021. "I told everybody in the community, that lady has a heart," Ali said. The group sued the Minnesota Department of Education to win approval, and the two-year battle took a toll on Twait's mental health. Bock was the. Aimee Bock. Are you planning to go on vacation? When MDE denied Feeding Our Future site applications, Bock and Feeding Our Future filed a lawsuit accusing MDE of denying the site applications due to discrimination in violation of the Minnesota Human Rights Act. Meals are handed out at designated sites, which must be sponsored by an authorized organization (such as Feeding Our Future). said it had discovered a massive fraud scheme among groups that Feeding Our Future was supposed to oversee, saying they siphoned off tens of millions of dollars by charging taxpayers for nonexistent meals. This is to ensure that nonprofits are serving the right food to qualify for the federal money. We compared other centers that were sold during that same timeframe to make sure that it was a fair market value, given location, size, condition, all of that. These defendants exploited a program designed to provide nutritious food to needy children during the COVID-19 pandemic. The FBI alleges that Feeding Our Future, which Bock founded in 2017 and where she serves as executive director, mishandled tens of millions of dollars of federal child nutrition money. I can open the door and I can hold it open and provide the security so it is safe for them to walk through. 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. They feed the children. Bock and her attorney accuse the Minnesota Department of Education of having an ax to grind against Feeding Our Future. lock Unlock financial insights by subscribing to our monthly plan. Between 2018 and 2021, Feeding Our Future accessed $244 million from two U.S. Department of Agriculture programs: the Child and Adult Care Food Program and the Summer Food Service Program. 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. Instead, the department issued a statement saying that it takes fraud and the protection of taxpayer dollars very seriously.. Aimee McEnroe-Bock. , Star Tribune The other reality is due to the COVID pandemic, the USDA issued waivers that allow parent pickup as well as home delivery. The law does not require her to sit at 200 centers and count the kids. As the Star Tribune reports, the Minnesota Department of Education first questioned Aimee Bock about the drastic uptick in the number of sites her organization was sponsoring in 2020. "The people who were running the sites had been living in Section 8 housing. Feeding Our Future works as an administrator of this federal money for the smaller nonprofits by accepting and submitting their applications to the Minnesota Department of Education, which acts as an intermediary between Feeding Our Future and the federal government. A lawyer for Feeding Our Future said the group never had an accountant on staff. Instead of spending this money on feeding children, the search warrants allege nearly two dozen people defrauded the government and spent it on personal items like luxury cars, expensive real estate, and lavish trips. In August 2020, S & S Catering Inc. enrolled in the Federal Child Nutrition Program under the sponsorship of Feeding Our Future. To start, Bock calls this understanding of how the child nutrition program works a mischaracterization.. Days before registering the company with the state of Minnesota, Nur submitted fraudulent invoices to Feeding Our Future claiming to have provided 3,635 gallons of milk and more than 7,000 packed lunches to another co-defendant, the indictment says. We were growing in site numbers, we were growing in staff size. Sams Club, Costco, and Aldi get by far the largest chunk of the money. But I firmly believe that is not the case. United States v. Haji Osman Salad, et al., 22-CR-226 (NEB/TNL), charges five defendants with wire fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and money laundering for their roles in the Federal Child Nutrition Program fraud scheme. The FBI alleges that Feeding Our Future, which Bock founded in 2017 and where she serves as executive director, mishandled tens of millions of dollars of federal child nutrition money. She said Feeding Our Futures board of directors signed off on the project. This story comes to you from Sahan Journal, a nonprofit newsroom to... 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