The orchestrator of a massive $242 million fraud scheme in Minnesota was sentenced to nearly 42 years in prison on Thursday.
Aimee Bock, 45, was the founder and director of the Feeding Our Future nonprofit that promised to deliver meals to children and received hundreds of millions of dollars in pandemic relief money from the federal government.
‘This was a vortex of fraud, and you were at the epicenter.’
Bock was found guilty on all counts, including wire fraud, conspiracy, and bribery.
“I made mistakes, so many mistakes. If I could go back, I would do everything differently. I don’t have the words to express just how horrible I feel,” Bock said while crying to the court after receiving the sentence.
“This was a vortex of fraud, and you were at the epicenter,” U.S. District Judge Nancy Brasel said to Bock in court.
The investigation into the sprawling scam has led to more than 70 indictments and 60 convictions, many from the Somalian community.
Prosecutors said in a filing that the “brazen and staggering nature of her crimes has shaken Minnesota to its core, leaving lasting damage and eroding public trust.”
Republicans have accused officials in the deep-blue state of obstructing efforts to shut down the fraud. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (DFL) has denied the claims, but the furor led to his ending a re-election campaign for a third term.
In April, Walz tried to take credit for federal raids on numerous businesses in Minnesota accused of similar fraud schemes, but FBI Director Kash Patel mocked the claim.
“Come again? This FBI and DOJ with our DHS partners drafted and executed every search warrant today,” Patel wrote on social media. “But go ahead and take credit for our work while we smoke out the fraud plaguing Minnesota under your governorship.”
Minnesota state Rep. Kristin Robbins (R) also accused Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota of aiding the scam.
RELATED: ‘Feeding Our Future’ scam artist agrees to plea deal with a slap-on-the-wrist sentence
After Omar failed to comply with a request from a Minnesota state oversight committee, Robbins accused her of refusing to answer difficult questions about previously passing a bill “that took the guardrails off the school nutrition program that led to the conditions that enabled Feeding Our Future.”
“Democrat Ilhan Omar has shown her disdain for the taxpayers. She believes she’s above answering for her role in the Feeding Our Future fraud,” Robbins wrote at the time. “We’ve sent her multiple letters and invites, but zero response from Ilhan Omar — what is she hiding?”
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