By A convicted figure in Minnesota’s massive COVID-era child nutrition fraud case is now alleging that Rep. Ilhan Omar knew more than she has acknowledged about a scheme that prosecutors say stole roughly $250 million in federal funds.
Aimee Bock, the founder of the nonprofit Feeding Our Future, spoke to the New York Post from Sherburne County Jail, where she is awaiting sentencing after her March 2025 conviction on charges including conspiracy, bribery, and wire fraud. Prosecutors said her organization helped restaurants submit fraudulent or inflated meal claims during the pandemic, then distributed federal reimbursement money tied to those claims.
Bock has maintained that she did not knowingly participate in the fraud and instead tried to alert state officials to suspicious activity. But in the interview, she questioned whether Omar could have been unaware of what was happening.
“I struggle to believe that she wouldn’t have known,” Bock said of the Minnesota congresswoman.
The fraud case involved dozens of defendants, many from Minnesota’s Somali community, who were convicted of billing the state Department of Education for meals that were supposedly served to low-income children but never provided. Feeding Our Future served as a sponsoring organization, reviewing reimbursement paperwork from participating restaurants and distributing federal funds.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has offered a bounty on those who report fraud.
Omar played a visible role in expanding meal-program flexibility early in the pandemic. In March 2020, she introduced the MEALS Act, which allowed the U.S. Department of Agriculture to issue waivers from standard school-meal rules. Those waivers loosened oversight requirements, including site inspections for participating restaurants.
Bock claimed Omar’s office also helped extend the waivers when coverage lapsed. She said there were multiple instances in which a waiver would expire mid-month before being renewed, allowing the program to continue operating. According to The Post, Omar’s name appeared at least six times in emails and text messages entered as evidence during Bock’s federal trial, reportedly in connection with waiver assistance requested by Feeding Our Future.
Omar also appeared in a promotional video filmed at Safari restaurant in Minneapolis, one of the largest participants in the fraud. In the video, she promoted the restaurant’s claimed meal service. Safari co-owner Salim Said was later convicted of defrauding the government of $16 million and is awaiting sentencing. The restaurant has since closed.
Bock said many meal-program operators in the Somali community worked directly with Omar’s office. Minnesota has the largest Somali population in the United States, with many living in Omar’s congressional district.
Bock also said she reported suspicious activity to state officials. The Post reviewed emails in which she flagged potentially fraudulent operations. In one 2021 exchange, after Bock raised concerns about a site claiming an implausibly high daily meal count, the Minnesota Department of Education’s Director of Nutrition Program Services responded that the department “takes no position if fraud has taken place.”
“That’s my biggest regret,” Bock said. “Accepting the answer that the government doesn’t take a position on fraud.”
A recent report by Minnesota’s Fraud Prevention and State Agency Oversight Committee concluded that Omar, Gov. Tim Walz, and Attorney General Keith Ellison played critical roles in creating conditions that enabled the fraud. The committee has called on the U.S. House Oversight Committee to subpoena Omar, who has declined to turn over communications with convicted individuals.
Bock, the only white defendant among roughly 80 to 90 charged and the only one who does not speak Somali, has described herself as a scapegoat. Prosecutors are seeking a 100-year prison sentence. Bock is asking for time served.
Both Governor Tim Walz and Attorney General Keith Ellison have been accused of knowing what was going on, as well.
The case has drawn national attention as investigators continue scrutinizing pandemic relief programs and broader fraud allegations in Minnesota, where federal authorities have suggested related schemes could involve billions more than originally reported.
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