As the trial for the alleged ringleader of a quarter billion dollar pandemic-era meal fraud scheme opened Monday, prosecutors told jurors the evidence would show how the founder “transformed a sleepy nonprofit into an engine for the largest COVID fraud in the country.”

Meanwhile, the defense cast Aimee Bock, the 44-year-old founder and executive director of the nonprofit Feeding Our Future, as a victim of others working with her nonprofit, and tried to point the blame toward the state education department for failing to stop brazen fraud by meal sites.

Bock faces federal charges for fraud, conspiracy and bribery in connection to a scheme authorities say took place between 2020 and 2022, where federal authorities say fraudsters stole $250 million in federal aid meant for feeding needy children who were cut off from meals during school closures due to COVID-19.

The money was supposed to reimburse nonprofits for meals served at locations such as day care centers, after-school programs and summer camps. Federal prosecutors have said individuals involved with Feeding Our Future and another nonprofit, Partners in Nutrition, claimed to serve millions of meals at locations that turned out to be mostly empty.Opening statements

Attorneys presented their opening statements Monday in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis in the trial of Bock and her codefendant Salim Said, the 36-year-old co-owner of Safari, a south Minneapolis restaurant prosecutors say is tied to the scheme. That restaurant alone is alleged to have stolen more than $16 million, and Said is accused of starting other shell companies including one which took in more than $10 million.

Bock and Said maintain their innocence and have pleaded not guilty to 22 charges.

Seventy people have been indicted in connection to alleged fraud tied to Feeding Our Future, 30 of whom have already pleaded guilty. Five defendants were convicted at trial last year where authorities say people tied to the case tried to bribe a juror with $120,000. Some who have pleaded guilty have agreed to testify against Bock and Said.

U.S. District Judge Nancy Brasel has ordered extra steps to protect the jurors’ identities and stop future bribe attempts, the Associated Press reported.

Defense: Bock victimized by meal site operators

In his opening statements, defense attorney Kenneth Udoibok described Bock as someone who had been victimized by meal site operators who lied about serving thousands of kids.

“She should not be responsible for the crimes of someone else,” he said. “Evidence will show they betrayed her trust.”

Udoibok noted that Bock, who doesn’t speak Somali like many of her codefendants, “relied on people in an office to tell the truth,” and described his client as a “convenient target” for federal authorities.

The defense tried to poke holes in the prosecution’s characterization of Bock as a woman who enriched herself by stealing, noting she had lost her home in the wake of the investigation and now lives with her parents.

Udoibok also attempted to pin the blame for the fraud on the state Department of Education, the agency in charge of distributing money through the Child and Adult Care Food Program, saying state officials were aware of the fraud.

A nonpartisan review by Minnesota’s Office of the Legislative Auditor last year found that “inadequate oversight” at the Education Department created an opportunity for fraud. Officials with the Education Department have said they lacked investigation and enforcement tools under state law.

Prosecution: Meal claims ‘defied common sense’

Assistant U.S. Attorney Dan Bobier in his opening told the jury how evidence would show how Bock turned Feeding Our Future from a small nonprofit that served a few daycares in 2018 into a “business juggernaut” that served hundreds of sites by 2021 and claimed to serve millions of meals.

He claimed Bock was motivated by money, power and admiration, and that she got kickbacks from those who got involved.

“She got to decide who got to be in on this scheme and who did not,” Bobier said. “She opened the gate to their theft of unlimited government money. For that, they loved her.”

Prosecutors used nearby Target Field, which seats nearly 40,000, to illustrate the scale of the fraud. Meal sites made claims about levels of service that “defied common sense” and “were patently absurd,” prosecutors said.

In a week, Said would served enough children to fill the downtown Minneapolis baseball park, prosecutors said. But instead of meals, Bock and codefendant Salim Ahmed Said spent the money on travel, cars and real estate, among other things, Bobier said.

Bock used the money to fund trips to Memphis, San Diego and Las Vegas, where she and her boyfriend rented luxury vehicles like a Lamborghini and Rolls Royce for $2,000 a day, Bobier told the jury.

Said lived the “high life and spent millions of dollars on vehicles including a Mercedes and Chevy Silverado, and real estate including a $2.7 million mansion in Minneapolis and $2.4 million on a business in Ohio, according to prosecutors.

Two witnesses testify

Two witnesses for the prosecution took the stand on Monday — postal inspector Matthew Hoffman, who was part of the federal investigation of Feeding Our Future’s headquarters and Emily Honer, director of Nutrition Program Services for the state Department of Education.

Honer was expected to return for cross examination Tuesday morning.

During her Monday testimony she said the rapid growth in the number of claims by Feeding Our Future was “quite alarming,” though said her agency had difficulties in shutting reimbursements down.