A Minnesota woman convicted in one of the state’s largest fraud schemes alleged in a jailhouse interview that Gov. Tim Walz and Attorney General Keith Ellison were aware of widespread fraud well before federal prosecutors stepped in.
Aimee Bock, the former head of the nonprofit Feeding Our Future, spoke to Fox News from Sherburne County Jail in Minnesota, claiming state officials continued approving and paying claims even after concerns were raised about potential fraud.
Bock alleged the state approved program sponsors and was responsible for monitoring claims, but officials repeatedly failed to investigate or stop suspicious companies after she flagged them.
‘I honestly believe Keith Ellison and Gov. Walz need to be held accountable. There needs to be an investigation done. If they weren’t aware, that’s concerning,’ she told Fox News.
‘I have to believe that the governor’s office and Keith Ellison’s office were aware of this. They’ve said they were involved in helping the FBI. They’ve said they were made aware, but apparently I’m scary, so they couldn’t do anything,’ Bock added.
In response, a spokesperson for Ellison’s office said Bock lacked credibility, pointing out her federal prison sentence. ‘She is a liar, fraudster, and manipulator of the highest order who has never acknowledged or accepted her guilt. Now, she’s on a media tour to deflect her guilt onto others instead of finally taking responsibility for the fraud scheme she ran,’ the spokesperson said.
‘Federal and state investigators meticulously examined the crimes Bock and her accomplices committed,’ the Ellison spokesperson continued. ‘Bock alone is responsible for her own actions, which was proven in court beyond a shadow of a doubt, and her claim about Attorney General Ellison is a lie without a shred of evidence behind it.’
Federal prosecutors have said the scheme involved more than $250 million in stolen taxpayer funds intended to feed children during the COVID-19 pandemic, with sham restaurants set up to falsely claim reimbursements.
Walz’s office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
The House Oversight Committee said on Jan. 7 that the Department of Justice (DOJ) has charged 98 defendants in Minnesota fraud-related cases, 85 of whom are of Somali descent.
Sixty-four defendants have already been convicted. Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., said the DOJ has issued more than 1,750 subpoenas, executed over 130 search warrants, and conducted more than 1,000 witness interviews in what officials describe as a sweeping federal probe.
Comer said federal prosecutors estimate at least $9 billion has been stolen across multiple fraud schemes in Minnesota.
‘The breadth and depth of this fraud is breathtaking. And I fear it is just the tip of the iceberg. Gov. Tim Walz, Attorney General Keith Ellison, and Minnesota’s Democratic leadership have either been asleep at the wheel or complicit in these crimes,’ he said. ‘They failed Minnesotans and all Americans, handing millions of taxpayers’ money to fraudsters.’