Feeding our Future: Bock explains ‘mysterious’ board of directors

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - It’s been weeks since three men testified they agreed to serve on Feeding Our Future’s board of directors, but then never heard anything more about it and never attended any meetings.

Aimee Bock, under cross-examination, tried to explain why they said that, defending her meeting minutes as records of "informal conversations" rather than actual meetings.

The three men testified they never even had any conversations.

‘Don’t recall that testimony'

What they're saying:

Bock, accused of conspiracy, bribery and wire fraud, testified that there was nothing fraudulent about her board meetings.

When reminded that one supposed board member said he never attended any meetings, she replied "I don’t recall that testimony."

The prosecution noted there was no record of any emails between them, but Bock insisted they didn’t not communicate by email, only by phone or in person.

The minutes of meetings they never attended, Bock conceded there were no formal meetings and "they are the minutes of conversations I had with these individuals."

As for the signature of one board member on those minutes, which he testified was not his, Bock denied forging it herself.

"It’s possible someone else saw it unsigned and signed it," she said.

Defense rests, Salim Said's begins

What's next:

Said’s defense got off to a rocky start, when two witnesses lined up to testify had second thoughts after the government said they could incriminate themselves.

The issue was they both received large sums to do work for Said’s Safari Restaurant, which could implicate them in receiving fraudulent money.

One did take the stand. Mohamed Liban posted videos to social media advertising Safari, and a couple dozen were shown to the jury.

They showed meals being prepared and put in serving trays for take out.  They also showed large stacks of these serving trays on tables, though they were covered, and the jury couldn’t see if they all contained food.

Liban testified "it was like a stadium," referring to alleged crowds who came to pick up those meals.

On cross-exam, the government pointed out none of the videos actually showed crowds. Just the food.

Salim Said is expected to testify in his own defense on Monday. Closing arguments are likely on Tuesday.