Officials announce charges in Minneapolis on the heels of 41-year sentence for Feeding Our Future mastermind

Federal authorities announced charges today against 15 defendants in a $90 million fraud scheme that targeted several Minnesota welfare programs and ranks as the largest autism-related fraud case in the nation.

Senator Michael Kreun (Ham Lake) chief Republican author of the bill to establish a statewide Office of Inspector General for state government released the following statement:

“I’m grateful to the federal authorities for their work to investigate and prosecute this $90 million fraud scheme. But prosecutions alone are not enough. For years, Minnesotans have waited for real change in the culture of our state agencies from reacting after the money is gone to stopping fraud before it goes out the door.

“That’s why I continued pushing for an Office of Inspector General. Over the last five years, our leaders chose denial and delay instead of action, and that’s unacceptable. An OIG will transform our state workforce to proactively identify and prevent fraud, and take immediate action when fraud is suspected to stop the money, find the criminals, and hold them accountable.

“Minnesotans must demand accountability and transparency from every elected official. This must be the top priority of state government next year to strengthen and build on the changes we pushed for this session. I’m cautiously optimistic that with an OIG in place, and an empowered government workforce, this could be the beginning of the end of fraud in Minnesota.”

The federal announcement in Minneapolis followed the sentencing of Aimee Bock, the mastermind behind the Feeding Our Future fraud scheme. Bock received a 41-year prison sentence for her role in what authorities have called the largest COVID-era fraud case in the nation.