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The woman convicted at the center of Minnesota’s largest pandemic fraud case has broken her silence from jail, expressing regret while disputing prosecutors’ portrayal of her as the architect of a massive scheme that siphoned hundreds of millions in federal funds meant to feed children.

Aimee Bock, the former head of the now-defunct nonprofit Feeding Our Future, spoke publicly for the first time since her conviction in a sweeping COVID-era fraud that prosecutors say exploited emergency food programs at an unprecedented scale. From a Minnesota detention facility, Bock said she wishes she could “go back and do things differently,” while maintaining that state officials who oversaw the program share responsibility for what unfolded.

Federal jurors last year found Bock guilty on all counts related to a scheme that authorities say generated roughly $250 million in fraudulent claims through federal child nutrition programs during the pandemic. Prosecutors allege the nonprofit approved reimbursement requests for millions of meals that were never served, while money flowed to luxury purchases, real estate ventures, and overseas travel.

Bock, now awaiting sentencing and facing the possibility of decades in prison, rejected claims that she orchestrated the fraud or personally profited at the scale alleged.

“I believed we were doing everything we could to protect the program,” she said, arguing that rapid growth was driven by pandemic rule changes and state approvals rather than criminal intent.

A Case That Reshaped Minnesota’s Fraud Debate

Feeding Our Future’s expansion was dramatic. Financial records show the nonprofit submitted only a few million dollars in meal claims before the pandemic, a figure that ballooned to nearly $200 million within two years as emergency waivers loosened oversight and allowed parents to collect meals for children at home.

Prosecutors say Bock approved claims she knew were false and accepted bribes from meal site operators. During trial, jurors saw messages in which she allegedly compared the organization to organized crime, a detail prosecutors cited as evidence of intent.

“She signed every fraudulent claim,” a lead prosecutor said after the verdict, calling her role central from the outset.

Bock disputes that characterization. She said her organization terminated contracts with dozens of sites she believed were abusing the system and claimed tens of millions of dollars in requested reimbursements were denied under her watch.

The case has placed Minnesota’s oversight of federal aid programs under intense scrutiny. Bock said her nonprofit relied heavily on approvals from state education officials, who she claims reviewed and authorized meal sites before payments were issued.

She also pointed to visits by elected officials to meal distribution locations as evidence that the program operated openly. State leaders, including Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, have defended their administration’s response, saying officials ultimately referred the case to federal investigators and have since strengthened fraud controls.

Still, internal reviews later acknowledged that legal pressure and concerns about accusations of discrimination complicated early enforcement efforts.

Federal prosecutors have charged 78 people connected to Feeding Our Future, with most defendants pleading guilty or being convicted. Bock stands out as the only non-Somali American defendant in the case, a fact that has fueled political and social debate around how the scandal has been framed publicly.

Bock denies that she was shielded or scapegoated based on race, saying the case reflects broader systemic failures rather than a single individual’s actions.

Last month, a judge ordered her to forfeit more than $5 million linked to the fraud. Sentencing is expected later this year.