The Department of Justice has announced charges against 48 individuals in what is being dubbed the largest pandemic relief fraud in the United States.

After an eight-month-long investigation, federal authorities uncovered a number of individuals and organizations connected to the Minneapolis-based nonprofit group, Feeding our Future. It was through this organization that the defendants were able to swindle a combined $250 million from federal nutrition programs and organizations designed to help a segment of the nation’s most vulnerable, school-aged children.

In 2018 Feeding our Future received $307,000 for meal reimbursements. In 2019, that number spiked to $3.45 million. In 2020, that number jumped again to $42.7 million. Then again in 2021, Feeding our Future brought in a whopping $197.9 million in reimbursements.

According to U.S. Attorney Andrew Luger of the District of Minnesota, the executive director of Feeding our Future, Aimee Bock, was the mastermind behind this scheme. Bock allegedly recruited roughly a dozen individuals, including restaurant locations, to set up shop as food sites where children could come for a free meal. However, these sites were never actually set up and meals were never served to children through the Minneapolis community.

These fictitious food sites were instead established to intentionally deceive government officials and funnel millions of dollars of COVID-19 relief funds for the defendants’ use. Federal officials detail that over 200 fake food sites were set up in order to serve a fictitious 2,000 to 6,000 children a day. In establishing these fictitious food sites and serving non-existent needy children, the defendants went on to seek reimbursement for the meals from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's food nutrition programs. In reality, only a few meals were served, and a majority of the reimbursements helped fund the lavish lifestyle the defendants went on to lead. Some of the millions of dollars were used to buy luxury vehicles, property throughout Minnesota, overseas vacation homes, jewelry, and other luxury amenities.

Feeding our Future helped perpetuate the fraud scheme by filing reimbursement claims on behalf of the restaurants, individuals, and other companies that were in on the scheme. In exchange, Bock would receive a kickback for submitting fraudulent claims.

During the investigation, Brock denied that she was involved in stealing money or that she ever saw evidence of fraud taking place. After news of her indictment, Bock’s attorney Kenneth Udoibok shared that “an indictment is not an indication of guilt or innocence.”

“This was a brazen scheme of staggering proportions,” explained Luger. “These defendants exploited a program designed to provide nutritious food to needy children during the COVID-19 pandemic. 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.”

The federal government has been able to recoup roughly $15 million in property, money, and other assets that were purchased with the ill-gotten gains. The government expects to be able to recoup more of the millions of dollars stolen.

After the Minnesota Department of Education began to grow concerned with the number of food sites Feeding our Future oversaw, the department began to deny site applications filed by the organization. In November 2022, Bock eventually filed a lawsuit against the Minnesota Department of Education. She alleged that the Department was discriminating against her organization because she served a primarily immigrant population. That lawsuit has since been dismissed.

Following the investigation, a slew of criminal charges including wire fraud, money laundering, bribery, and conspiracy were announced against the defendants.

Only a handful of the 48 defendants have been arrested. As the investigation unfolded, some of the defendants tried to secure one-way flight tickets to countries such as Ethiopia. However, they were stopped before they could leave the country. Still, a number of the defendants were able to successfully leave the country or were abroad when the charges were announced. Among the defendants are notable members of the community including individuals with ties to the local government.