10 more people charged in $250M federal food program fraud - ABC News
By: ABC News
See shady people come in all shapes, sizes, skin hues, and of course, political parties!
FILE - Aimee Bock, the executive director of the nonprofit Feeding Our Future, speaks Jan. 27, 2022, in St. Anthony, Minn. Ten more people have been charged in connection with a scheme to steal more than $250 million from a federal program designed to provide meals to low-income children in Minnesota, federal prosecutors said Monday, March 13, 2023. A total of 60 people have now been charged, including Bock. (Shari L. Gross/Star Tribune via AP, File)
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
10 more people charged in $250M federal food program fraud
MINNEAPOLIS -- Ten more people have been charged in connection with a scheme to steal more than $250 million from a federal program designed to provide meals to low-income children in Minnesota, federal prosecutors said Monday.
A total of 60 people have now been charged in the conspiracy, in which authorities say a group of people took advantage of rules that were relaxed during the COVID-19 pandemic and falsely claimed they were providing food to children. Minnesota U.S. Attorney Andy Luger said in September that the conspiracy was the largest pandemic-related fraud scheme to date.
At a Monday news conference, Luger said six people have pleaded guilty so far, and more information is coming about who organized the scheme.
"Our investigation continues, and we expect more charges in the future," Luger said.
At the center of the plot, the indictments allege, was a Minnesota nonprofit called Feeding Our Future.
Prosecutors said just a fraction of the money went toward feeding kids, with the rest laundered through shell companies and spent on property, luxury cars and travel.
The money came from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, with oversight from state governments. In Minnesota, the funds were administered by the state Department of Education, with meals historically provided to kids through schools and day care centers. Sites that served the food were sponsored by authorized public or nonprofit groups.
Some standard program requirements were relaxed during the COVID-19 pandemic; for-profit restaurants were allowed to participate, and food was allowed to be distributed outside educational programs.
Luger said in September that a small group of people came up with the plan to exploit the relaxed rules and steal tens of millions of dollars by falsely claiming they were providing food to children. Others soon joined, and the scheme grew, Luger said.
On Monday, Luger said the defendants allegedly operated fraudulent food sites all around the state, including Pelican Rapids, Faribault, Burnsville, Minnetonka, Bloomington, Minneapolis and St. Paul.
He highlighted an indictment against a woman who claimed to serve 2,560 meals a day to children in Pelican Rapids, a town with a total population of only 2,500 people. The woman obtained about $3.7 million from the fraudulent sites she operated, Luger said.
Luger added that federal prosecutors in September had seized about $50 million worth of property fraudulently obtained by the defendants. "That number is over $66.6 million now -- and climbing," he said.
Republican lawmakers have said Gov. Tim Walz and Attorney General Keith Ellison, both Democrats, missed opportunities to use their investigative powers to stop the fraud earlier.
The governor replied that the federal government relaxed its rules when it sent COVID-19 aid to the states — "as they should have" — and that his administration alerted the FBI when it discovered the fraud.
"Now it's an ongoing investigation. I guess we'll get more clarity," Walz said in October, before he and Ellison won re-election the following month.
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Trisha Ahmed is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow her on Twitter: @TrishaAhmed15
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SHAME. SHAME. SHAME. SHAME. SHAME. SHAME. . . .
A GOP state senator in MN just recently said that there are no hungry people in MN.
I'm very familiar with Pelican Rapids and it is a very small town about 5 miles from my buddy's lake cabin on Pelican Lake.
Sentence them to the max and take everything that they own, leave that scum nothing.
The suspects have interesting names and organizations (though innocent until proven guilty), and they are in some terrible 'waters' right now. It will suck to be them if found guilty of crimes. Especially owing all that money back!
This is big big news up here. I've been following Minnesota Public Radio news on the issue. I know people who knew Aimee Bock before she moved down to Minneapolis and they were shocked. The sheer amount of money going through this program I'm shocked it wasn't discovered earlier. Like, didn't anyone complain they weren't actually getting food?
That's a very good point and question! Where are the 'regulators'?
The first indictments were last Sept which means the investigation probably started last Spring or late Winter.
Someone was counting beans; otherwise, we wouldn't be reading about it. Can you imagine the backlash if the AG halted the money, and kids went without? I'm just glad they were actually auditing this, and that these folks might actually have to pay the piper.
That's one of the problems in a "shoot first, ask later" environment. Dept. of Ag. was throwing money at people, without vetting anything.
I doubt it was matter of them not feeding those that wanted/needed meals, but more of an issue of pumping the number of meals. Without getting into the details of the program (which I don't know anyway), according to what I can find, 2560 meals a day is more than 3 meals per each child under the age of 18 in Pelican Rapids. Source I see shows roughly 710 kids under age 18. Assuming all qualified and took meals (and assuming it was designed to provide 3 meals) they could provide 3 meals to all kids, and collect the unused $ on the 450 meals charged for, but never served. That's rough math, based on population data. My gut tells me that they multiplied the number of kids enrolled in K-12 by 3, and claimed that was the number of meals they were serving a day...and only half of the kids were actually taking meals. Wonder what the govt. was paying per meal? Wonder what the actual cost of a meal was? Tons of room for people to take advantage of the situation, while also actually feeding people.
Just playing devil's advocate here... how many times have we seen programs get bogged down in red tape where nothing actually gets done? Of course in a the unique situation of a pandemic where schools are shut down and people weren't working these methods may have been necessary. That said... unless the program admin was in on it (Bock has been indicted, but plead not guilty) then they were derelict in their oversite duty.
Here is the accusation: At the center of the plot. . . . . Here's the charge: just a fraction of the money went toward feeding kids. . . . Here's the crime: the rest laundered through shell companies and spent on property, luxury cars and travel.
Now, it's good the government found this out (Bock's former partner 'dropped a dime' on her), and its good the government has informed the public, because, you know, when the children are not being fed. . . they are yet hungry and appropriately hungry.
Oh, I tend to agree with that. We could could run down several rabbit holes here. Under the circumstances, and panic everyone was put in, I lean toward a belief that cutting funding, at the time, would have resulted in egg on the face of multiple people, deserved or not.
I am surprised that this topic has dropped off so soon. This is an interesting case.
Really? We are getting desensitized to government overspending and corruption related to government money. I'm honestly surprised that the majority of the comments here weren't along the lines of "you're kidding?" s/
I thought the perpetual critics of liberals would have been enjoyed the opportunity to mock the exotic personal names of people and organizations involved in this article and investigation. The old Reagan myth line about the "welfare queen" being a minority receiving government funds while owning a cadillac (or two) parked outside her/his rental property in the 'hood.'
Maybe, there is more hidden about these people and their organizations than has been detailed so far.
Well, I can't speak for everyone, but I personally don't give a damn about someone's name, background, political affiliation, etc. A thief is a thief. I suspect the majority of sensible folks agree, and are tired of everything taking a political spin.
I agree with you.
But, there are buts.