Jury selection to begin for alleged ringleader of $250M pandemic fraud scheme in Minnesota
Jury selection begins Monday in the trial of the alleged ringleader of a scheme to exploit the COVID-19 pandemic that federal prosecutors say stole $250 million from a program meant to feed children.
MINNEAPOLIS — Jury selection begins Monday in the trial of the alleged ringleader of a scheme to exploit the COVID-19 pandemic that federal prosecutors say stole $250 million from a program meant to feed children, the latest chapter in a broader case that has also included an attempt to bribe a juror and political repercussions against Gov. Tim Walz.
But the attorney for Aimee Bock, the founder of Feeding our Future — the group that prosecutors say was at the heart of the plot — insists that she’s innocent.
Bock and a co-defendant will be the second group to stand trial in what prosecutors call one of the country’s largest COVID-19-related fraud cases anywhere. The first trial resulted in the conviction of five people last year and received widespread attention after some defendants and people linked with them allegedly tried — unsuccessfully — to bribe a juror with a bag of $120,000 in cash. The juror went straight to police instead.
Bock is one of 70 defendants charged in the overall case. They’re being tried in batches. Thirty of them have already pleaded guilty to various charges, including some who had been scheduled to go on trial with Bock this week. One defendant from the first trial was sentenced this month to 17 1/2 years, the longest prison term handed down in the case so far.
Here’s a look at a trial that’s expected to last around six weeks:
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