{"id":604091,"date":"2026-05-19T11:52:34","date_gmt":"2026-05-19T11:52:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/?p=604091"},"modified":"2026-05-19T11:52:34","modified_gmt":"2026-05-19T11:52:34","slug":"jailed-mastermind-of-250m-covid-meal-fraud-says-ilhan-omar-had-to-know-about-the-scheme-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/?p=604091","title":{"rendered":"Jailed \u2018mastermind\u2019 of $250M COVID meal fraud says Ilhan Omar had to know about the scheme"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The \u201cmastermind\u201d of a $250 million meal fraud scheme involving Minnesota nonprofit Feeding Our Future has fingered Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), who has been suspected<\/a> of being in on the action.<\/p>\n

The disgraced organization\u2019s founder, Aimee Bock, was convicted last year for her role in the swindle in which taxpayer money for a COVID-era program to feed hungry kids was stolen and used to fund the \u201clavish lifestyles\u201d of the perpetrators.<\/p>\n

Bock is currently being held in Sherburne County Jail, where she is awaiting sentencing, and in an interview<\/a> with the New York Post, she said that the ethically-challenged \u201cSquad\u201d member had to have known about the ripoff.<\/p>\n

\n

WOW: Mastermind of the $250M Feeding Our Futures COVID meals scandal, Aimee Bock, claims Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) KNEW about and protected the massive fraud.<\/p>\n

\u201cI struggle to believe that she wouldn\u2019t have known,\u201d Bock told the New York Post regarding Omar.<\/p>\n

Fox & Friends: \u201cBock\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/gOfeV9yvgH<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 RedWave Press (@RedWavePress) May 17, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\u201cI struggle to believe that she wouldn\u2019t have known,\u201d she told the paper in a video interview.<\/p>\n

Dozens of people have been prosecuted for the scam, one of a myriad of swindles involving Minnesota\u2019s Somalian community, that ripped off taxpayers under the noses of the state\u2019s Democratic politicians.<\/p>\n

Bock was convicted in March 2025 on multiple counts, including wire fraud, conspiracy, and bribery, but has maintained that she did not knowingly participate in the scam and that she had tried to alert state officials.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe notion that I\u2019m personally responsible for all of it\u2026 is so frustrating. I\u2019m the only white person out of 80 or 90 individuals [charged in the fraud]. I\u2019m the only one that doesn\u2019t speak the language,\u201d Bock said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAimee Bock and Salim Said took advantage of the Covid-19 pandemic to carry out a massive fraud scheme that stole money meant to feed children,\u201d Acting U.S. Attorney Lisa D. Kirkpatrick said in a statement<\/a> at the time. \u201cThe defendants falsely claimed to have served 91 million meals, for which they fraudulently received nearly $250 million in federal funds. That money did not go to feed kids. Instead, it was used to fund their lavish lifestyles. Today\u2019s verdict sends a message to the community that fraud against the government will not be tolerated.\u201d<\/p>\n

Omar introduced the MEALS Act in 2020, which allowed the US Department of Agriculture to issue waivers of school-meal requirements during the pandemic,\u201d according to the Post. \u201cThe waivers dramatically eased oversight of the federal programs by allowing restaurants to participate without any of the usual site inspections.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to the paper, Bock alleged that the Somalia-born Democrat \u201cwould personally step in whenever those waivers ran out, allowing the rampant fraud to continue.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere had been a couple of times early on that there were some gaps \u2013 a waiver would be set to expire on maybe the 15th of a month, and then the renewal didn\u2019t kick in until the 1st,\u201d she claimed. \u201cBecause of course this was supposed to be a short-term thing\u2026 we were supposed to be home for two weeks.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of the sites were working directly with her, being that a lot of the operators were from the same Somali community,\u201d Bock said.\u00a0\u201cThere were a lot of people that had been reaching out to her office and staff \u2014 and I presume her personally \u2014 to work through some of those gaps with the waivers.\u201d<\/p>\n

The congresswoman told<\/a> the Daily Mail that \u201cthe MEALS Act was signed into law by President Trump and passed with bipartisan support as part of a broader legislative package. Trump\u2019s USDA Secretary set the regulatory framework during the rollout of the program. I have always championed feeding kids and will continue to ensure our children do not go hungry.\u201d<\/p>\n

In her statement to the UK-based outlet, Omar also said that \u201cthe moment this fraud came to light, I immediately sent a letter to the USDA Secretary demanding answers and accountability. As I stated from the beginning, stealing millions of dollars under the guise of feeding hungry children to bankroll lavish lifestyles and extravagant expenses is reprehensible.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Monday, the Star Tribune reported<\/a> that prosecutors are seeking 50 years for Bock, the longest sentence of those convicted for the fraud.<\/p>\n

<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The \u201cmastermind\u201d of a $250 million meal fraud scheme involving Minnesota nonprofit Feeding Our Future has fingered Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), who has been suspected of being in on the action. The disgraced organization\u2019s founder, Aimee Bock, was convicted last year for her role in the swindle in which taxpayer money for a COVID-era program… Continue reading Jailed \u2018mastermind\u2019 of $250M COVID meal fraud says Ilhan Omar had to know about the scheme<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":604077,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[18,19,10,21,12,11,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-604091","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cancel-culture","category-censorship","category-civil-liberties","category-election-integrity","category-equal-justice","category-free-speech","category-religious-freedom","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/604091","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=604091"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/604091\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/604077"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=604091"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=604091"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=604091"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}