Advance Youth Athletic Developments site the location that turned out to be a second-story apartment had obtained nonprofit status in June, using a fast-track I.R.S. The FBI alleges that Feeding Our Future, which Bock founded in 2017 and where she serves as executive director, mishandled tens of millions of dollars of federal child nutrition money. Bock: Most of the folks named in the search warrants are at the for-profit level. Is that a criminal act? That left me in a position where I was opening a business to serve children who were confined to their homes. 5353 Gamble Dr Ste 320 . and other agencies raided 15 homes and offices around the Twin Cities. On top of securing and distributing over $240 million in Federal Child Nutrition Program funds, the non-profit allegedly received over $18 million in administrative fees as well as bribes and kickbacks from individuals and companies they were sponsoring. agents at her front door. Bock says the smaller nonprofits that serve meals to kids must buy food from a food distributor. more of the story, Two former Minneapolis officials among those charged in fraud case, Judge to oversee dissolution of Minnesota nonprofit Feeding Our Future, What to know about the fraud investigation into Minnesota nonprofit Feeding Our Future, Feeding Our Future dissolves amid FBI probe over federal nutrition money, Two charged in brutal attack of transgender woman at Lake Street light-rail station, Lyft suspends Nice Ride bike sharing in Minneapolis, Golden Valley turns to contractors to fill policing gaps, 19-year-old sentenced for killing student outside Richfield school, Minn. data dashboard probes violent death causes, trends. Im not sure how they would determine that the money came from the child nutrition program, because by the time food distributors get the money, its their general fund money. Udoibok said that after seizing scores of documents during last months multiple raids, the FBI now has all of the relevant information. See Photos. more of the story, How authorities allege Feeding Our Future fraud unfolded, Feeding Our Future charges lead to dispute over 2021 case, Department of Education seeks over $500K in legal fees from nonprofit, Feeding Our Future founder among 48 charged in $250M fraud, Two charged in brutal attack of transgender woman at Lake Street light-rail station, Lyft suspends Nice Ride bike sharing in Minneapolis, Golden Valley turns to contractors to fill policing gaps, 19-year-old sentenced for killing student outside Richfield school, Minn. data dashboard probes violent death causes, trends. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law. Hassan and seven others are charged in an indictment outlining a $17.4 million fraud scheme. (Shari L. Gross/Star . I wish that the government had taken that into consideration when making this allegation. But even after the F.B.I. I dont recall the date off the top of my head. This is a tired, worn-out building. Together, they allocated more than $4 billion a year to feed 7 million children across the country. Those meals were served in the months immediately following the pandemic. The scale of this, and the rapidity of it, is astonishing, said State Senator Roger C. Chamberlain, a Minnesota Republican whose committee oversees the food programs. Video: Somali women celebrate Aimee Bock and Feeding Our Future In an undated video sent to American Experiment, a group of Somali women appear to be giving Feeding Our Future CEO Aimee Bock an award. The bulk of the reimbursement claims goes back to the sites, though the sponsoring agency retains 10 to 15 percent as an administrative fee. To start, Bock calls this understanding of how the child nutrition program works a mischaracterization.. Aimee Bock was the founder and executive director of Feeding Our Future, a nonprofit organization that was a sponsor participating in the Federal Child Nutrition Program. Instead of feeding the future, they chose to steal from the future. Luger said that the government has so far seized $50 million in property tied to the scheme, including 60 bank accounts, 45 parcels of real property, 14 vehicles, jewelry and other items. Sponsors must submit an application to MDE for each site. Many of the kickbacks were paid in cash or disguised as "consulting fees" paid to shell companies created by Feeding Our Future employees to conceal the true nature of the payments and make them appear legitimate, the indictment alleges. The recent charges paint a scenario in which Bock was able to capitalize on her unusually strong relations with the Somali community to create a staggeringly successful criminal enterprise, one in which immigrants were willing to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to gain access to her money-making club. and continued to channel aid through the group while federal agents conducted a nine-month investigation. Liban Yasin Alishire, president and owner of Community Enhancement Services Inc., located in the JigJiga Business Center in Minneapolis. Udoibok called the disclosure of allegations without making charges or indictments grossly unfair to Bock. Bock oversaw the $240 million fraud scheme carried out by sites under Feeding Our Future's . said it had discovered a massive fraud scheme among groups that Feeding Our Future was supposed to oversee, saying they siphoned off tens of millions of dollars by charging taxpayers for nonexistent meals. Bock: Unfortunately, [the Learning Journey] was something that took a decade or more to build. . Most defendants did not yet have an attorney. As alleged, the defendants charged in this case chose to enrich themselves at the expense of children. In a phone interview, he provided the following comment: "Ms. Bock has not been charged with any offense. She cried several times during the interview. Bock: People seem to believe I give them the money and then its sort of the honor system to go purchase food. A lawyer for Partners in Quality Care said it was fighting the action and had no indication that it was under investigation. The indictment is not evidence of guilt or innocence. These sites, created and operated by the defendants and others, fraudulently claimed to be serving meals to thousands of children a day within just days or weeks of being formed. We had to build out offices. They feed the children. "Aimee was absolutely energized by the legal maneuvering. If they would have asked, they would have known it was from a sale of an independent business. Again, the meals are reimbursed. Main address. "It shook me to my core. No. What if, the woman suggested, Ms. Crooks told the government that her snack was actually a full meal instead? Bock: Its important to paint the context of the time that those meals were served. Because if you are, I might get raided.. After moving to the Twin Cities with her family in 2009, Bock got a job at a daycare center in Burnsville, starting out working with infants. If its a conflict of interest, thats a whole different story. Forty-seven people were indicted in connection to an alleged operation Attorney General Merrick Garland called the "largest pandemic relief fraud scheme charged to date". She is required to do auditing and inspection of sites three times a year. "We are pleased by the thorough cooperation we got from MDE throughout this investigation.". Feeding Our Future's three board members voted in February to dissolve the organization in part because its bank accounts had been frozen by the federal probe. They submit the documentation to Feeding Our Future. Nur was appalled, and his video created a stir in the Somali community. Bock, who set her salary at $190,000 this year, was forced to turn over $185,000 in her bank account and the keys to her 2013 Porsche Panamera during the Jan. 20 search of her home. "Bock then deposited the check into a personal account held by her and her ex-husband," a search warrant says. Eidleh could not be reached for comment and court records indicate he does not have an attorney yet. Feeding Our Future breaks down to 10 percent. Bock's tenure didn't last long. This week, the executive director of Feeding our Future denied allegations of fraud in connection with federal food aid programs and gave her side of the story in an in-depth interview with Sahan Journal. Now Bock and her Feeding Our Future co-workers are at the center of a massive criminal probe, accused of collecting more than $5 million in bribes, kickbacks, and other fraud proceeds as part of a wide-reaching conspiracy to defraud public nutrition programs, according to indictments unsealed by federal prosecutors last week. The Minnesota case involves two multibillion-dollar federal food-aid programs, both funded by the Agriculture Department but administered by states. The owner of Hajis Kitchen LLC and other co-conspirators enrolled in the Federal Child Nutrition Program under the sponsorship of Feeding Our Future and Sponsor A. MINNEAPOLIS -- The founder and executive director of Feeding Our Future was released from custody earlier this week after she surrendered her passport and agreed not to travel outside of. Nur is charged with four others in one indictment that alleged a $25 million fraud scheme. Bock told Sahan Journal during the interview that she hadnt seen the lawsuit yet and reiterated that she no longer owns the daycare business listed at the address. In Willmar, for instance, conspirators paid more than $570,000 to rent the Faafan Restaurant for 11 months, almost three times the restaurant's annual sales before the pandemic. Its still ongoing. September 20, 2022 - 10:33 PM. Aimee Marie Bock, 41, of Apple Valley, Minnesota, is charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy to commit federal programs bribery, federal programs bribery. At least one defendant Fahad Nur is accused of fleeing the United States shortly after the January FBI raids. It purportedly showed one of Bock's employees receiving an astonishing wedding present: an ornamental cart, laden with so much gold that guests gathered around to see it up close. Over the course of the fraud scheme, the defendants claimed to have served hundreds of thousands of meals. said in legal filings that groups overseen by Feeding Our Future had received more than $65 million from federal food programs during the coronavirus pandemic. Bock is no longer talking to the news media, but she talked expansively about her career and her efforts to expand the government's free meals program into Minnesota's East African community when she still hoped to avoid being criminally charged. But I firmly believe that is not the case. Bock says whatever the for-profit food distributors do with their profit margins is outside of her authority. "There was huge potential.". The state has also sought to cut ties with a second sponsor called Partners in Quality Care, which had supervised some of the nonprofits that worked with Feeding Our Future. 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