The founder of a Minnesota-based nonprofit who was convicted of masterminding a $250 million welfare fraud scheme was ordered by a judge last week to forfeit luxury goods obtained with the spoils of her corruption.
Aimee Bock, who was the brains behind the Feeding Our Future scandal, was found guilty in March on federal charges of wire fraud, bribery, and conspiracy in connection to the largest COVID-19 fraud scheme in the United States, the New York Post reported. The 44-year-old, along with dozens of mostly Somali co-conspirators, siphoned pandemic relief funds from a federal programs intended to feed children in need.
Bock is waiting for sentencing for her part in the scheme, but a federal judge issued a court order on December 30 telling her to relinquish her ill-gotten gains.
Bock has been ordered to forfeit $5.2 million in funds from her personal nonprofit bank accounts, a Porsche Panamera, a Louis Vuitton purse and backpack, a diamond necklace, bracelet, and earrings, iPads and iPhones, and approximately 60 laptops, according to the report.
The Department of Justice has convicted 57 people so far in the Feeding Our Future scandal, and 78 defendants have been charged, according to the report.
Seventy-two of the defendants are of Somalian descent, Attorney General Pam Bondi said. Five are fugitives in Africa.
Bondi alleged that defendants sent “millions of taxpayer dollars in fraud proceeds” to the Middle East and East Africa, in addition to buying luxury goods and enriching themselves. She said she expects the total amount of fraud to be around $400 million.
Prosecutors have only been able to obtain $75 million in stolen funds so far, according to the report.
The Feeding Our Future scandal is gaining attention again after citizen journalist Nick Shirley unearthed alleged widespread fraud being committed by Somali nationals in Minnesota.
Katherine Hamilton is a political reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on X @thekat_hamilton.
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