Former Minnesota nonprofit head gets nearly 42 years for $250M fraud

A federal judge on Thursday sentenced the former director of a Minnesota nonprofit to nearly 42 years in prison for orchestrating a $250 million fraud scheme that helped fuel the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.

Aimee Bock led Feeding Our Future, which claimed to provide millions of meals to children during the pandemic.

“I understand I failed. I failed the public, my family, everyone,” Bock said in federal court.

Donald Trump used fraud cases against Bock and others to justify sending federal officers to the Minneapolis-Saint Paul area last winter, sparking protests and the deaths of two people.

“Feeding Our Future operated like a cash pipeline, open to anyone willing to submit fraudulent claims and pay kickbacks,” prosecutors said in a court filing. “The ripple effects of her actions are profound, immeasurable, and will have lasting consequences for both Minnesota and the nation.”

Bock was convicted last year of conspiracy, wire fraud and bribery. She had long maintained her innocence.

Her lawyer, Kenneth Udoibok, argued for a shorter sentence, saying Bock provided information to investigators and was unfairly portrayed as the mastermind, while two co-defendants ran the schemes.

Authorities said the nonprofit was at the center of a network involving partner organizations, phony distribution sites, kickbacks and fabricated lists of children receiving meals. Dozens of people, many from Minnesota’s Somali community, have been convicted in related food fraud cases over several years.

This week, prosecutors filed additional charges against others in an investigation into federal social service spending in Minnesota.

Among the charges, Fahima Mahamud, CEO of Future Leaders Early Learning Center in Minneapolis, is accused of receiving $4.6 million in reimbursements for services on behalf of people who did not make required copayments over three years.

A message seeking comment from Mahamud’s lawyer was not immediately returned Thursday. She was separately charged in February with meal fraud and has pleaded not guilty.

Two other people were charged with conspiracy to receive $975,000 in Medicaid subsidies for housing services not provided; they are expected to plead guilty in June, according to court filings.

Two additional individuals were accused of billing Medicaid $21.1 million for autism therapy that was either unnecessary or not provided, with investigators alleging they paid families up to $1,500 per child per month to enroll and collect reimbursements.

Trump, who has long criticized Somalis, called Minnesota “a hub of fraudulent money laundering activity” last year and criticized Governor Tim Walz, the 2024 Democratic vice-presidential nominee.

“Somali gangs are terrorizing the people of that great State, and BILLIONS of Dollars are missing. Send them back to where they came from,” Trump wrote on social media.

Bock is white, and the U.S. attorney’s office said the overwhelming majority of defendants in the cases are of Somali descent, most of them U.S. citizens.

The immigration surge triggered repeated protests and confrontations, resulting in the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti.