U.S. Attorney Andrew Luger said the defendants took $250 million from a pandemic aid program that was meant to 'feed needy children.'
U.S. Attorney Andrew Luger called it"the largest pandemic fraud in the United States,"Luger said the defendants are charged with federal crimes including"conspiracy, wire fraud, money laundering and paying and receiving illegal kickbacks," the station reported.
Many of the companies that claimed to be serving food were sponsored by a nonprofit called Feeding Our Future, which submitted the companies' claims for reimbursement. Feeding Our Future's founder and executive director Aimee Bock was among those indicted, and authorities say she and others in her organization submitted the fraudulent claims for reimbursement and received kickbacks.
According to court documents, the alleged scheme targeted the USDA's federal child nutrition programs, which provide food to low-income children and adults. In Minnesota, the funds are administered by the state Department of Education, and meals have historically been provided to kids through educational programs, such as schools or day care centers.
The documents say Bock oversaw the scheme and that she and Feeding Our Future sponsored the opening of nearly 200 federal child nutrition program sites throughout the state, knowing that the sites intended to submit fraudulent claims."The sites fraudulently claimed to be serving meals to thousands of children a day within just days or weeks of being formed and despite having few, if any staff and little to no experience serving this volume of meals," according to the indictments.
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