Minnesota fraud mastermind Aimee Bock found guilty in Feeding Our Future case
Jury convicts Aimee Bock on all counts in the Feeding Our Future scheme, prosecutors say she used vast authority to push inflated meal counts and silence regulators during the pandemic.
A federal jury in Minnesota found Aimee Bock guilty on all counts she faced in connection with Feeding Our Future, the nonprofit accused of orchestrating a fraud scheme that prosecutors say claimed roughly $250 million in federal child nutrition reimbursements during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Prosecutors described Bock as the architect of the operation, using her expanding influence to approve meal sites, certify claims and suppress scrutiny by state regulators. Feeding Our Future grew from handling roughly $3 million to $4 million in federal reimbursements annually before the pandemic to a network that claimed to have served 91 million meals at the height of the scheme, with prosecutors estimating the total fraud near $250 million and later noting the total impact closer to $300 million.
Trial testimony described Bock as a powerful gatekeeper who could shut off cash flows if operators did not meet inflated numbers. A cooperating witness described her as a "God" who enforced compliance over the network, and jurors heard that site operators who refused to meet demands faced loss of funding and exclusion from future reimbursements. Prosecutors said the system required operators to pay kickbacks to Feeding Our Future employees or intermediaries to stay in the program and avoid termination of contracts.
During the trial, investigators presented emails and slides in which Bock accused Minnesota regulators of racism to keep funds flowing. In 2021 the Minnesota Department of Education grew suspicious and moved to halt reimbursements; Feeding Our Future sued the state, alleging racial discrimination. A judge later issued an injunction blocking the state from terminating Feeding Our Future as a sponsor, a ruling prosecutors said enabled the scheme to escalate rather than pause.
Bock testified that the concentration of 21 meal sites along a 1.8-mile stretch of Lake Street was justified because several area grocery stores had been damaged during the George Floyd riots, creating what she described as a food desert. Prosecutors argued the explanation masked a deliberate misrepresentation of meal counts and site viability.
Evidence presented at trial included a $30,000 cash withdrawal at a bank, shown in government exhibits as part of alleged kickback activity. Prosecutors said more than $1 million flowed to Bock’s longtime boyfriend, Empress Malcolm Watson Jr., who appeared in trial exhibits with luxury items, including a Rolls-Royce and other high-end purchases. Prosecutors stressed that Watson was not charged in Feeding Our Future, though he faced separate tax-related offenses and remained in custody on unrelated matters.
Salim Said, a co-defendant, was convicted on multiple counts, including wire fraud, bribery and money laundering. The wider investigation has led to at least 78 indictments, underscoring the breadth of the alleged fraud during the pandemic era and the expansion of the nonprofit network beyond its pre-pandemic footprint.
The case has drawn attention to weaknesses in oversight of federally funded child nutrition programs and the mechanisms by which sponsors submit reimbursements during emergency rule periods. Prosecutors said the scale of the fraud outpaced the nonprofit’s internal controls and demanded greater scrutiny from regulators and lawmakers to prevent similar schemes in the future.
No sentencing date had been announced for Bock, and the proceedings described in the trial records did not indicate whether appeals are planned. The defendants’ paths forward will depend on post-verdict motions and potential sentencing hearings, with federal prosecutors signaling they will pursue substantial penalties.
The Feeding Our Future case remains part of a broader effort to safeguard public funds in nutrition programs and to ensure accountability across a network that purported to serve vulnerable children during a time of extraordinary policy changes and economic stress. As the investigation continues to unfold, officials say lessons learned will inform future safeguards and regulatory responses in Minnesota and beyond.