MINNEAPOLIS — U. S. Attorney Andrew Luger announced opposing fees to dozens of others Tuesday morning in what he called “the largest pandemic fraud in the United States. “
Forty-seven more people face federal charges for defrauding a federal child nutrition program, allegedly taking $250 million and pocketing the maximum for private use, rather than feeding children.
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Federal prosecutors on Tuesday revealed grisly allegations against dozens of Minnesotans in what U. S. Attorney Andrew Luger called “the largest pandemic fraud in the United States. “
Court documents call 47 other people charged, adding Aimee Bock, founder and executive director of the nonprofit Feeding Our Future. the height of the pandemic.
“Their purpose was to make as much money as you could imagine while falsely pretending to feed young people during the pandemic,” Luger said. . “
Prosecutors said only a fraction of the cash was intended to feed children, while the rest is laundered through shell corporations and spent on real estate, luxury cars and travel.
ROOTS OF THE ALLEGED PLAN
The defendants are accused of federal child nutrition systems that supply loose food to low-income youth and adults. The money comes from the U. S. Department of Agriculture. In the U. S. , under the supervision of state governments. In Minnesota, the budget is administered through the state Department of Education. , with food historically supplied to young people through schools and kindergartens. Sites that serve food are sponsored by public legal or non-profit groups.
Feeding Our Future had been a sponsor before the pandemic and said that in 2019 the organization distributed about $3. 4 million. In 2021, however, that number jumped to $200 million.
“No player in this program can legitimately believe that they can only rent staff, buy food, buy food, manage the logistics involved in this process, prepare meals, serve them and earn millions more,” Luger explained. possible. “
Bock, however, would have an idea that it was at least imaginable to create the specter that this could happen by exploiting the rest of the needs of the U. S. government’s program. USA Due to the COVID-19 pandemic. These included allowing for-profit restaurants to participate in the preparation of children’s food; Outdoor food distribution was also allowed in educational programs.
“During the pandemic, once we sent all those young people home and closed the schools, the young people were not in school. That’s what allowed a fraud scheme like this to flourish because other people couldn’t wonder if young children were getting food or couldn’t wonder or raise a red flag if young children had gone to school,” said Erica MacDonald, a former U. S. district attorney. U. S. for the District of Minnesota, in WCCO. ” The (lack of) stop at the site was important. We communicated about this alleged ploy and pointed out to young people that they just didn’t exist. “
HOW IT WOULD HAVE WORKED
Several corporations have asked to provide food to low-income children, prosecutors said, adding that many have used Feeding Our Future as a sponsor to seek funding.
Authorities allege that Feeding our Future workers recruited others to open program sites in Minnesota, which inflated the amount of youth and food they served, or served nothing. The nonprofit then filed false claims for reimbursement and received a 10% administrative payment. to 15 percent, in addition to bribes from other people who wanted to enroll in the program, according to the charges.
Court documents also describe how the scheme used shell corporations that falsified invoices indicating food was being served and submitted fake attendance lists purporting to list the names and ages of the young people fed the day.
“No one got sick, no one missed a meal, no one was absent. The same kids, each and every day, every week,” Luger joked.
The FBI says one company claimed to serve food to 300 young people a day in January 2021. In February 2021, the organization claimed that it provided daily food to 3290 young people. In total, the organization received $3. 6 million in refunds in 2021, according to an FBI affidavit. To the maximum that amount deposited in your bank account, and then the maximum went to another company. Few were used to buy food.
FEEDING OUR FUTURE
Feeding Our Future was established in 2016 to help minority and underserved communities make safe investments from the federal food program. The nonprofit has temporarily become the largest independent sponsor of such systems in Minnesota.
Founder Aimee Bock told the Star Tribune this year that she employs 65 members who speak 17 languages. He added that he works with 140 subcontractors to distribute 100,000 foods a day to young people in Minnesota.
An FBI affidavit tracked the backlog in the nonprofit’s refunds: $307,000 in 2018, $3. 45 million in 2019, $42. 7 million in 2020 and $197. 9 million in 2021.
Bock said he had never stolen cash and had not noticed evidence of fraud among his subcontractors. Feeding Our Future was dissolved in February.
Bock’s attorney, Kenneth Udoibok, told WCCO on Tuesday that he remains attached to her beyond claims that she had stolen money.
Udoibok said it was a relief to have more clarity on the charges, but “at the same time, an indictment is just the beginning of a criminal process. In no way does it imply guilt or innocence. “
POSSIBLE RED FLAGS
Court documents imply that the Ministry of Education has been involved in the immediate expansion of refunds and the number of sites sponsored through Feeding Our Future. The branch said it contacted the USDA in the summer of 2020 and began reviewing applications for the nonprofit site. In one case, the firm rejected a request from an organization claiming in March 2021 that it served an after-school snack and dinner to 5,000 young people a day; the FBI called this “an incredibly high number of young people. “
The Department of Education surrendered to the FBI in April 2021 and the FBI began investigating the following month. Last January, federal agents raided several properties and added the offices of Feeding Our Future and Bock’s home.
Feeding Our Future earned $244 million in federal reimbursements for food nutrition systems between 2018 and 2021, the FBI reported. Data from the Ministry of Education puts the nonprofit’s overall reimbursements at $268. 4 million over the same years.
OTHER LEGAL BATTLES
After the Ministry of Education stepped up its review, Feeding Our Future sued the company in November 2020. Feeding Our Future alleged discrimination, among other things, alleging that many of the teams it works with belong to minority communities.
In December 2020, the Ministry of Education prevented the approval of new site applications for Feeding Our Future. The following March, the ministry suspended all bills to the group. But in April 2021, a state ruling ruled that the firm did not have the strength to avoid invoices and ordered refunds to continue. The case was closed after the FBI investigation was made public in January.
On Tuesday, Bock was among the defendants who made their first court appearances. However, of the 47 defendants, prosecutors said some had already fled the country.
IMPACT ON NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATIONS FIGHTING HUNGER
People struggling with hunger thankfully say there were enough genuine systems at the height of the pandemic for children. But now childhood hunger is again a challenge.
“We’ve heard countless stories about the demanding situations families have faced in recent months,” said Rachel Sosnowchik of the Second Harvest Heartland Food Bank. “We’re coming off one of the hungriest summers in recent times. . . We have noticed the end of federal systems that were essential for families to cope with the pandemic. “
One of the systems that ended with school food loose for everyone. Parents who now apply for payment assistance are encouraged to complete an application for educational benefits. Schools will have more data and will be able to help families with the application.
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison issued the following on fraud allegations against Americans such as Feeding Our Future.
“I commend the Department of Justice and U. S. Attorney Andy Luger on this theft charge. The scale of the fraud alleged by the government is staggering and immoral. The federal government has the thief’s original jurisdiction over this case and because the alleged fraud reaches federal jurisdiction. “It’s fair and proper for federal prosecutors to bring fraud charges, and I commend them for that.
“As Minnesota’s leading charity regulator, my civil investigation into whether Feeding Our Future violated any of Minnesota’s charitable or non-profit laws continues. I also continue to closely monitor the dissolution of Feeding Our Future, which is pending in court. to supervise it. I am also proud of the paintings from my office representing the Minnesota Department of Education when it attempted to avoid payment to Feeding Our Future in court and alerted the federal government to the fraud, which led to today’s allegations.
“I will hold bad actors accountable everywhere, no matter who they are or how connected they are. “
The Minnesota Department of Education issued the following fees against nearly 50 other people in the alleged Feeding Our Future pandemic fraud case.
“Today’s news from the U. S. Department of Justice. U. S. Department of Education (DOJ) is the direct result of the perseverance and diligent oversight of the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE). As reported at the DOJ and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) press conference, the MDE partnered with the federal government and provided them with critical data for their investigation. When the MDE learned of the unexplained expansion of Feeding Our Future, the MDE reported those activities without delay to the U. S. Department of Agriculture’s Midwest Regional Office. The U. S. Department of Homeland Security (USDA), the USDA’s Office of Inspector General, and the FBI until we were able to locate someone who would take problematic expenses as seriously as we did. When the MDE stopped the bills, Feeding our Future retaliated with accusations of racism and a false trial, a court ordered the bills to continue.
“Today’s arrests will help protect the integrity of those vital systems and allow the systems to continue feeding children and families in need. The MDE will continue to work with federal partners to hold bad actors accountable and the USDA’s Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP). and the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) so this doesn’t happen again. “
The chairman of the Minnesota Senate Education Committee issued a statement following the filing of charges against 47 other people involved in an alleged $250 million pandemic fraud scheme.
“Today’s allegations make one thing clear: fraud has consequences,” said Sen. Roger Chamberlain (R-Lino Lakes). “I want to thank U. S. Attorney Andy Luger and his team for their diligent work to empower people. That’s the job of the Minnesota Department of State Education hasn’t worked. As Mr. Luger said, criminals have used the pandemic to make millions of dollars from taxpayers’ money. “
Last week, Chamberlain discussed the initial findings of the Feeding Our Future case and said the Department of Education had followed state and federal laws. On Tuesday, he reiterated those remarks.
“This is the largest case of COVID fraud in the country because MDE has not done its job. The fraud persisted because MDE did not do any due diligence with those bad actors. Possibly they would have helped with the investigation, but it’s too little, too late,” Chamberlain said.
After Chamberlain’s week of comments, the MDE issued its own statement:
“The MDE acted temporarily and raised the factor several times with the federal government until we could locate someone who took the troubling expense as seriously as we did. “
Sen. Chuck Wiger (DFL-Maplewood), leader of the Senate Committee on Finance and Education Policy, said Chamberlain’s remarks are partisan in nature.
“The DFL Senate has fully supported the ongoing federal investigation, as well as the investigation expected through the nonpartisan legislative auditor that will provide detailed answers to some of those vital questions,” Wiger said. biased and partisan press release rather than being willing to work with all committee members to get to the bottom of this vital issue. “
Click below to read the full indictment in the case against Feeding Our Future founder Aimee Marie Bock and thirteen others.
Feeding Our Future took millions of federal dollars in 2020. The cash was meant to feed needy youth in Minnesota.
Instead, researchers say it has been used to buy homes, hotel properties, luxury cars and more.
Investigators say the fraud took place between April 2020 and January 2022.
U. S. Attorney Andrew Luger said some of the defendants “are in the country right now. “He gave an accurate figure.
He said “the others are being treated at this time, adding that some have been arrested and are expected to appear in court now.
U. S. Attorney Andrew Luger said another 47 people had been charged with “the largest pandemic fraud in the United States. “
The allegations announced Tuesday involve six organizations, all connected to the larger feeding organization Feeding Our Future, a two-city nonprofit.
Watch a segment below from the beginning of the press. Follow WCCO all day for updates on this case.
U. S. Attorney Andrew Luger said the government seized $50 million worth of assets from an organization of others accused of what he called “the latest scheme to get fast. “
Those seizures included 60 bank accounts, forty-five “parcels of real estate,” 14 vehicles, jewelry and other items, Luger said.
To perpetuate an alleged quarter-trillion-dollar fraud scheme, dozens of other people connected to a Twin Cities nonprofit made fake lists of young people and reported unserved food in documents, U. S. Attorney Andrew Luger said.
People running on allegedly fraudulent food sites for needy youth would bring in exactly the same amount of food served, day after day, week after week, Luger said. These sites were sponsored through Feeding Our Future.
In communicating the lists of young people fed, some of the defendants allegedly used one to generate random names. Authorities found that the ages of some young people vary by form. Authorities also matched the lists with those of the schools where some of the catering sites allegedly stayed, locating only a small number of matching names.
“These were just invented,” Luger said.
U. S. Attorney Andrew Luger said another 47 people had been charged with “the largest pandemic fraud in the United States. “
Luger said the defendants are charged with federal crimes and added “conspiracy, cord fraud, laundering and payment and receipt of illegal bribes. “
Luger said the defendants took $250 million from a federal child nutrition program, which would be used to “feed children in need. “Instead, Luger alleges that the defendants “primarily pocketed the money. “
The allegations announced Tuesday involve six s, all connected to the broader Feeding Our Future.
Feeding our Future, a Twin Cities nonprofit that claimed to feed tens of thousands of hungry youth, was dissolved in February as part of the federal investigation into the alleged large-scale fraud scheme.
In January, federal agents executed search warrants on more than a dozen homes connected to the nonprofit because FBI warrants alleged a trend of cheating, cash laundering and fraud. spent on luxury cars and homes.
Feeding Our Future said it has provided food to more than 30,000 youth from BIPOC communities in the Twin Cities and “performed a wonderful task for the community,” especially during the pandemic.
The nonprofit founded in 2017 has grown from $2. 9 million in federal investment to more than $197 million in 2021.
The following is a complete list of the defendants in the Feeding Our Future case from the U. S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Minnesota and similar parties:
The following defendants are named in the United States against Aimee Marie Bock, et al. acusation:
The following defendants are named in the United States against Abdiaziz Shafii Farah, et al. acusation:
The following defendants are named in United States v. Qamar Ahmed Hassan, et al. acusation:
The following defendants are named in the United States against Haji Osman Salad, et al. acusation:
The following defendants are named in United States v. Lebanon Yasin Alishire, et al. acusation:
The following defendants are named in the United States against Sharmake Jama, et al. acusation:
Criminal information: