Aimee Bock calmly explained to a federal jury Friday how the nonprofit she launched and led, Feeding Our Future, operated during the years it allegedly defrauded more than $250 million from the federal government.
Bock, 44, mostly spoke with an even tone about her responsibilities as executive director. But when asked about Feeding Our Future’s then-program support manager, Abdikerm Eidleh, her voice broke.
“Who is Abdikerm Eidleh?” asked Kenneth Udoibok, Bock’s attorney.
“A horrible person,” Bock said.
Bock took the witness stand about 3:45 p.m. after prosecutors rested their case against her. She is being tried on four counts of wire fraud and one count each of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, bribery and conspiracy to commit federal programs bribery. Prosecutors allege that she and 69 other defendants stole $250 million in federal food-aid money meant to feed children during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Bock allegedly took $1.9 million by paying her boyfriend at least $900,000 for maintenance work on Feeding Our Future’s office, and through other means.
Abdikerm Eidleh was indicted alongside Bock in the case, but fled the country and remains at-large. Salim Said, the former co-owner of Safari Restaurant, is being jointly tried with Bock. Testimony in their trial began four weeks ago on Feb. 10.
The alleged fraud involved Feeding Our Future receiving federal funds through the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE). Feeding Our Future then distributed those funds to food vendors and food sites like Safari Restaurant, which were supposed to provide ready-to-eat meals to children during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Several organizations reported serving thousands more meals than they actually did, or never served any at all, in order to receive more reimbursement dollars from the federal child nutrition programs, according to prosecutors.
“We’re sort of in the middle,” Bock testified, explaining the function her organization served.
Wearing a white cardigan over a black button down shirt, Bock frequently looked at the jurors as she testified.
Bock said she oversaw about 100 employees at Feeding Our Future’s peak in 2021, and that her main job was to understand and ensure compliance with state and federal guidelines for the child nutrition programs.
But the organization often lacked structure, Bock testified. Her board of directors was “very informal” she testified. Ben Strayberg, who was listed as the board’s president, testified at trial that he didn’t know he was on the board until he received a call from a journalist asking about the alleged fraud. Stayberg described Bock as a bar friend. Bock told the court that she asked Stayberg to be on the board in 2018 because of his experience managing restaurants.
Another prosecution witness, Jamie Phelps, testified earlier in the trial that he had been listed as the board’s treasurer without his knowledge, and that he had met Bock a handful of times through his neighbor.
Udoibok tried to submit several internal Feeding Our Future documents into evidence, including Bock’s own job description, leading to a series of objections from Assistant U.S. Attorney Joe Thompson who argued that many of the documents were created by Bock herself. Most of the objections were granted by U.S. District Judge Nancy Brasel, who told attorneys after the jury left the courtroom that Bock would need to testify about the documents before Udoibock could present them to the court.
“My job is to throw the fastball and the curveball, and I’ll continue,” Udoibok said.
Before Bock took the stand, Udoibok unsuccessfully motioned for the court to dismiss the case against her, a common move in trials. He centered his arguments around the idea that Bock is a scapegoat for others who ran the alleged food fraud. Udoibok said in his opening statements that Bock was the victim of fraudsters and a dysfunctional state government.
“I get the sense that someone has to be blamed, and it’s Ms. Bock,” Udoibok argued Friday.
Bock’s testimony will resume next Wednesday, due to a court break scheduled at the beginning of the week.
