Phantom children, inflated food bills and a Somali restaurant: How a Minnesota nonprofit leader built a network for the $250 million COVID-19 food aid fraud scandal

The federal program meant to provide meals to children from poor families amid the coronavirus outbreak in the United States turned into a case involving fraud worth $250 million in Minnesota. According to the investigation, perpetrators filed false reports about the number of meals served, reported on nonexistent children and claimed payments for meals not provided.

Feeding Our Future, the non-profit organisation based in Minnesota, which was headed by Aimee Bock, played a key role in the case since its head was convicted of running the whole scam. One of those convicted is Salim Said, the co-owner of the Safari Restaurant in Minneapolis.

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On Wednesday, Said was given a 30-year sentence to federal prison. The prosecutors blamed him for causing $44 million worth of fraudulent activities associated with both him and other individuals involved in the restaurant.

This verdict was based on a case in 2025 where she, too, was convicted. Currently, she is serving a sentence of almost 42 years and has been ordered to pay $242 million.

How a programme designed to feed children became vulnerable to fraud

The fraud was facilitated by the modifications to the program that were made in response to the pandemic.

Historically, the program aimed at the distribution of meals to children through schools and other authorised institutions. However, in response to the challenges associated with the coronavirus outbreak, the eligibility criteria for organisations allowed for distributing meals outside of schools to be modified.

The expansion provided some flexibility amid the disruption caused by the pandemic.

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However, at the same time, it presented the possibility of fraud, which the prosecution accused the organisers of. Feeding Our Future worked as a sponsor of various institutions that participated in the program.

According to the prosecution, Bock used the nonprofit organisation to hire operators who submitted claims for federal funds for the services they had allegedly provided. Other accusations related to the falsification of the invoices, meal logs, and the list of children who had supposedly received the meals.

The magnitude of the crime was great.

According to the federal government, this was a fraudulent scheme that cost about $250 million dollars, and many people were indicted as investigations and prosecutions were conducted. Instead of being a program that provided food for needy children, it turned out to be a source of funds from the government based on false claims.

Safari Restaurant claimed 6,000 meals a day, prosecutors said

One such restaurant was Safari, which specialised in Somali food. It was claimed to have reported meal numbers way higher than what had been observed by the investigators at the Minneapolis location.

Prosecutors stated that claims made in connection with Safari included as many as 6,000 meals per day. FBI surveillance estimated only 40 people collecting food daily, according to prosecutors.

Prosecutors contended that the claims made were not exaggerated estimates but a deliberate attempt to receive reimbursement for meals that had not been supplied.

The government claimed that Said was accountable for $44 million in fraudulent claims, some of which had been made using the people that he recruited. Prosecutors also claimed that money from the fraud paid for expensive purchases, including a $1.2 million house, commercial property, and an $87,000 pickup truck.

When Said took the stand in his 2025 trial, he denied any wrongdoing in relation to these charges, claiming that most of the food deliveries were made outside the restaurant.

Despite this, Said was found guilty on all 21 charges, including wire fraud, bribery, and money laundering.

According to the prosecution, another way to conceal the bribe payment was the purchase of a closed childcare centre in Burnsville worth $310,000 by Said from Bock.

The jurors sided with the prosecution. At his sentencing hearing, Said apologised for his part in the case and felt sorry for what he did.

A 30-year sentence, and a wider question over oversight

Said’s punishment is one of the most severe punishments handed out so far in the Feeding Our Future case.

Bock got almost 42 years in jail for her involvement in running the programme, whereas many other individuals have been criminally charged. In this way, the Feeding Our Future case has shed light on how a programme aimed at helping poor families can be abused through networks of feeding sites and paperwork.

The case has also brought into question the attitude of the state officials towards this issue.

According to a state audit, the Minnesota Department of Education has received numerous complaints regarding the Feeding Our Future programme but has often left it up to the non-profit organisation to handle the situation itself.

It has also become a political hotbed, with the federal programme being used as an excuse to criticise the leadership of Minnesota.

However, the core of the issue in this case is the misuse of money meant for the benefit of children who required food amid a health crisis.

As seen from the figures, the case is quite a serious one: a scam of $250 million; fictitious names in the list of meal recipients; thousands of meals per day reported at the restaurant where there were far fewer people receiving food; and years in prison for the scammers.

This case proves that the program could be misused, according to the prosecutors. However, the citizens will have another question: how long did this case last before being taken to court?