Minnesota Fraud Mastermind Sentenced to Nearly 42 Years in Prison

Prosecutors sought a five-decade sentence for Aimee Bock, calling her ’the central figure' in the nation’s largest COVID-19 pandemic scam.

Aimee Bock, the executive director of the nonprofit Feeding Our Future, speaks in St. Anthony, Minn., on Jan. 27, 2022. Shari L. Gross/Star Tribune via AP

Aimee Bock, 45, will spend nearly 42 years in prison for playing what prosecutors called a “central” role in the nation’s largest COVID-19 pandemic scam, which raked in $242 million and resulted in dozens of indictments, many against Somalis. The case touched off lasting ripple effects not only in Minnesota but nationwide, prosecutors said.

Bock had been the leader of a nonprofit called “Feeding Our Future” (FOF), which prosecutors said “operated like a cash pipeline” by tapping into the Federal Child Nutrition Program meant to feed children.

A federal jury convicted Aimee Bock and co-defendant Salim Said in March 2025 after a six-week trial. Said has not yet been sentenced.

Bock was convicted on four counts of wire fraud, and one count each of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, bribery, and conspiracy to commit federal programs bribery.

Said was convicted on a count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, four counts of wire fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit federal programs bribery, eight counts of bribery, one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, and five counts of money laundering.

In a May 18 court filing, prosecutors suggested that a 50-year prison term “appropriately reflects the seriousness of Bock’s crimes, promotes respect for the law, provides a just punishment, and creates adequate deterrence not only to Bock, but to all other individuals who take advantage of the state and believe that they are above the law.”