Former head of Minnesota nonprofit gets nearly 42-year prison sentence for fraud

A judge on Thursday handed down an extraordinary prison sentence – nearly 42 years – to the former leader of a Minnesota nonprofit who was convicted in a staggering $250m fraud case that helped ignite an immigration crackdown by the Trump administration.

Aimee Bock ran Feeding Our Future, which had claimed it helped provide millions of meals to children in need during the pandemic.

“I understand I failed. I failed the public, my family, everyone,” Bock said in federal court.

Donald Trump used the fraud cases against Bock and many others to initially justify a surge of federal officers to the Minneapolis-Saint Paul area last winter, leading to a pushback by residents and the deaths of two people.

“Feeding Our Future operated like a cash pipeline, open to anyone willing to submit fraudulent claims and pay kickbacks,” prosecutors said in a court filing. “The ripple effects of her actions are profound, immeasurable, and will have lasting consequences for both Minnesota and the nation.”

Bock was convicted last year of multiple counts involving conspiracy, wire fraud and bribery. She had long insisted she was innocent.

Her lawyer, Kenneth Udoibok, argued for a much shorter sentence, saying Bock had provided information to investigators. He argued that Bock had been unfairly painted as the mastermind and insisted that two co-defendants were responsible for running the scams.

The nonprofit sat atop a fraud network that included a web of partner organizations, phoney distribution sites, kickbacks and fake lists of children supposedly being fed, prosecutors say. Dozens of people, many from the state’s large Somali community, have been convicted for their roles in a series of overlapping food fraud cases that have spent years in the courts.

Meanwhile, authorities this week filed additional charges against others in a sprawling investigation into federal social service spending in Minnesota.

The targets include Fahima Mahamud, who was CEO of Future Leaders Early Learning Center, a childcare center in Minneapolis. Over three years, Mahamud’s organization was reimbursed approximately $4.6m for services on behalf of people who didn’t make a required copayment, prosecutors allege.

A message seeking comment from her lawyer was not immediately returned on Thursday. Mahamud was charged separately in February with fraud related to meals. She has pleaded not guilty.

Two other people were charged with conspiring to receive $975,000 in Medicaid subsidies for housing services that were not provided. They are expected to plead guilty in June, according to a court filing.

Two additional people were accused of receiving $21.1m by billing Medicaid for autism therapy that was either unnecessary or not provided. Investigators said they paid families as much as $1,500 per child per month to add their names to the program and get reimbursement.

Trump, who has long derided Somalis, last year blasted the state as “a hub of fraudulent money laundering activity”. He also criticized the leadership of Tim Walz, the governor and the Democratic vice-presidential nominee in the 2024 election.

“Somali gangs are terrorizing the people of that great State, and BILLIONS of Dollars are missing. Send them back to where they came from,” Trump wrote on social media.

Bock is white and the US attorney’s office says the overwhelming majority of defendants in the cases are of Somali descent. Most are US citizens.

The immigration surge led to repeated protests and confrontations between residents and federal officers and resulted in the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti.