Minnesota fraudsters lose properties, luxury cars, goods

The federal government is reclaiming money stolen by two Minnesotans as part of a $250 million fraud ring, and homes and luxury goods are on the table.

Aimee Bock, founder of Feeding Our Future, has been ordered to pay $5.2 million in restitution and Salim Said could be forced to pay back $7.8 million.

Bock was ordered to surrender more than $5 million held in bank accounts, as well as a Porsche Panamera – a $90,000 vehicle – diamond jewelry, designer items such as a Louis Vuitton purse and backpack, and around 60 iPads, iPhones and laptops found at three locations, according to media reports.

“I’ve lost everything,” Bock, 45, told CBS News from her jail cell last month. “I wish I could go back and do things differently, stop things, catch things.”

A judge issued a preliminary order last week that Said turn over three properties bought with stolen money – two in Minnesota and one in Columbus, Ohio – as well as a 2021 Chevrolet Silverado and a 2021 Mercedes-Benz. The order will be finalized at sentencing.

Sentencing dates have not been announced for Bock and Said, who were convicted last year in a massive fraud ring that led to charges against 79 individuals, some of whom have cooperated with the government in exchange for lighter sentences.

“The Feeding Our Future case has come to symbolize the problem of fraud in our state. Hopefully today’s verdict will help turn the page on this awful chapter in our state’s history,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Joe Thompson said after Bock’s conviction in March 2025. “It has become the shame of Minnesota.”

The state has continued to be in the spotlight for reported fraud in the Somali community, ranging from day care centers to an investigation into how U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minnesota, built her wealth to more than $30 million since joining Congress in 2019, something which has also drawn President Donald Trump’s attention.

The meals program Feeding Our Future grew from $3.4 million in 2019 to nearly $200 million in 2021 as Bock and others exploited lax rules on funding during the COVID-19 pandemic to enrich themselves.

Both Bock and Said could face more than 30 years in prison.

Image credit: Sherburne County Jail