This is an ugly story that we are sorry to report. Feeding America, led by Aimee Marie Bock in Apple Valley, Minnesota (and 46 others), is charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy to commit federal programs bribery, and federal programs bribery. Bock was the founder and executive director of Feeding Our Future. Bock oversaw the $240 million fraud scheme carried out by sites all across Minnesota under Feeding Our Future’s sponsorship.
It appears the defendants spent the money on luxury vehicles, residential and commercial real estate in Minnesota as well as property in Ohio and Kentucky, real estate in Kenya and Turkey, and to fund international travel. GAO found the “likely fraud” situation as part of their audit and passed the case to Justice which is now prosecuting. The tragedy happened in 2019 and 2020 all across Minnesota and literally took food from children’s mouths.
The funding came originally from the Federal Child Nutrition Funds and was supposed to be managed by USDA’s Farm Service Agency. One unanswered question is what happened in the oversight breakdown that neither FSA nor USDA’s Inspector General noticed until GAO stepped in with its required by-law audit. My Rural America’s early news coverage can be found at Here We Go Again … USDA Needs a New IG. See full story below: The U.S. Department of Justice: U.S. Attorney Announces Federal Charges Against 47 Defendants in $250 Million Feeding Our Future Fraud Scheme