Feeding Our Future leader's request to sanction MN Dept. of Education denied
ST. ANTHONY, MN. - JANUARY 2022: Aimee Bock, the executive director of the nonprofit Feeding Our Future, speaks out for the first time after accusations the groups partners defrauded the federal government of millions of dollars, Thursday, January 27
ST. PAUL, Minn. (FOX 9) - Feeding our Future founder Aimee Bock’s motion to sanction the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) over allegedly destroying evidence in a lawsuit has been denied by a Ramsey County judge.
Bock alleged that MDE employees tried to cover up information after Feeding our Future filed a lawsuit in 2020, claiming employees deleted documents and drafts in their systems, used burner phones to communicate official business, and intentionally misspelled words or added spaces to hide their communication from discovery.
However, the state said her motion to sanction was "pure theater" which relies on "half-truths and incomplete information in an attempt to garner headlines and side-step the actual process of presenting and testing evidence before the court," court records read.
A Ramsey County Judge held a remote hearing on Wednesday, May 29, and issued a decision the following day that the motion to sanction the MDE was denied.
Bock is among the dozens of people facing criminal charges in the alleged Feeding our Future scheme that took at least $250 million from the federal child nutrition program — money that was intended to help feed children during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Seven people are currently on trial in connection to the scheme, and a federal jury is actively deliberating.
The trial took an unusual turn earlier in the week when a juror was dismissed after reporting that a woman allegedly dropped off a bag of $120,000 in cash at her Spring Lake Park home in an attempted bribe for a non-guilty verdict. A second juror was released the following day after learning about the alleged bribe attempt from a family member.
One of the seven defendants' houses, Abdiaziz Farah, was searched by the FBI days after the attempted bribe. The defendants currently on trial have not been charged as of Wednesday in connection to the alleged bribe.
Bock has pleaded not guilty to the charges against her, and a trial date has not yet been set.
Feeding Our Future juror dismissed
A juror was dismissed Monday after reporting that a woman dropped a bag of $120,000 in cash at her home and offered her more money if she would vote to acquit seven people charged with stealing more than $40 million from a program meant to feed children during the pandemic.