MINNEAPOLIS (AP) 鈥� A judge on Thursday handed down an extraordinary prison sentence 鈥� nearly 42 years 鈥� to the former leader of a Minnesota nonprofit who was convicted in a staggering $250 million fraud case that helped ignite an immigration crackdown by the Trump administration.
Aimee Bock ran , which had claimed it helped provide millions of meals to needy children during the pandemic. The U.S. Justice Department, however, said she was atop the 鈥渟ingle largest COVID-19 fraud scheme in the country.鈥�
鈥淚 understand I failed. I failed the public, my family, everyone,鈥� Bock said in federal court.
After the hearing, authorities held a news conference to announce charges against 15 more people accused of fraud in receiving federal payments for a variety of social services administered through Minnesota’s state government. The FBI said one man jumped from a fourth-floor balcony to avoid arrest.
鈥淲e will claw back every dollar you have stolen from the American people,鈥� Assistant Attorney General Colin McDonald said, noting that the government sent more prosecutors and agents to Minnesota this year.
President Donald Trump used against Bock and many others to initially justify a to the Minneapolis-St. Paul area last winter to target immigrants, leading to pushback from residents and the deaths of two people.
Feds found lavish spending
Bock’s nonprofit was at the center of a fraud network that included a web of partner organizations, phony distribution sites, kickbacks and fake lists of children supposedly being fed, prosecutors say. She had long proclaimed her innocence but was convicted last year of conspiracy, fraud and bribery.
Bock and co-conspirators enriched themselves with international travel, real estate purchases, luxury vehicles and other lavish spending, the government said.
鈥淭his was a vortex of fraud and you were at the epicenter,鈥� U.S. District Judge Nancy Brasel told Bock.
A co-defendant was sentenced last August to 28 years in prison. Abdiaziz Farah claimed to be serving meals to thousands of children per day, investigators said, but the sites turned out to be parking lots or empty commercial space.
that the Minnesota Department of Education received numerous complaints about Feeding Our Future, but often told the group to police itself. In January, Democratic said he would not run for reelection after being pounded by Trump about theft in programs that rely on federal cash.
Dozens of people, many from the state鈥檚 large Somali community, have been convicted in a series of overlapping food fraud cases that have spent years in the courts.
鈥淭his case has changed our state forever,鈥� Joe Thompson, formerly the lead prosecutor in the case, said outside the courtroom. 鈥淎imee Bock did everything she could to earn this long sentence.鈥�
Bock鈥檚 lawyer, Kenneth Udoibok, argued for no more than three years in prison, saying she had provided key 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.
Fraud cases grow
In a fresh batch of criminal cases filed this week in Minnesota, the government said the alleged fraud involved $90 million across seven state-managed Medicaid programs.
The defendants include Fahima Mahamud, who was CEO of Future Leaders Early Learning Center, a childcare center in Minneapolis. Over three years, Mahamud鈥檚 organization was reimbursed approximately $4.6 million for services on behalf of people who didn鈥檛 make a required copayment, prosecutors allege.
A message seeking comment from her lawyer was not immediately returned Thursday. Mahamud earlier this year pleaded not guilty to fraud related to meals.
Two other people were charged with conspiring to get $975,000 in Medicaid subsidies for housing services that were not provided. They鈥檙e expected to plead guilty in June, according to a court filing.
Two additional people were accused of receiving $21.1 million by billing Medicaid for autism therapy that was either unnecessary or not provided. Investigators said the two 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 Minnesota as 鈥渁 hub of fraudulent money laundering activity.鈥�
鈥淪omali gangs are terrorizing the people of that great State, and BILLIONS of Dollars are missing. Send them back to where they came from,鈥� Trump wrote on social media.
Bock is white and the U.S. Attorney鈥檚 Office says the overwhelming majority of defendants in the cases are of Somali descent. Most are U.S. citizens.
Trump’s immigration enforcement surge led to repeated protests and confrontations between residents and federal officers and resulted in the killings of and .
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AP reporters Scott Bauer in Madison, Wisconsin, and Ed White in Detroit contributed.
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