DOJ charges 47 people with stealing $250 million from pandemic food program for children : NPR

The US Department of Justice said 47 people designed and executed a massive scheme to defraud the federal infant nutrition program out of $250 million.

Youri Gripas/Bloomberg/Getty Images

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Youri Gripas/Bloomberg/Getty Images

The US Department of Justice said 47 people designed and executed a massive scheme to defraud the federal infant nutrition program out of $250 million.

Youri Gripas/Bloomberg/Getty Images

The Justice Department unveiled criminal charges against 47 defendants who misled the government out of $250 million that was supposed to be used to feed needy Minnesota children during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The DOJ said the indictments allege “the largest pandemic fraud scheme charged to date.”

The indictments announced Tuesday implicate six groups, all of which are linked to Feeding Our Future, a Minnesota nonprofit. The defendants are charged with federal crimes, including conspiracy, wire fraud, money laundering and paying and receiving illegal bribes.

“Over a short period of time, these 47 defendants engaged in a brazen scheme of staggering proportions,” U.S. Attorney Andrew Luger said at a press briefing.

The DOJ alleges defendant Aimee Bock of Apple Valley Minnesota was the mastermind behind the plot. Bock is the founder and executive director of Feeding Our Future, which actually served federally funded meals to underserved children in the Twin Cities before the pandemic. According to the DOJ, Bock recruited others to create fake sites and falsely claim they were feeding needy children under the sponsorship of his group.

Records show Feeding Our Future has grown from receiving and disbursing about $3.4 million in federal funds in 2019 to nearly $200 million in 2021.

According to the DOJ, the defendants used the proceeds of their fraudulent scheme to purchase luxury vehicles, fund international travel, and purchase residential and commercial real estate in Minnesota, Ohio, and Kentucky, as well as Kenya and in Turkey.