Jury seated in Feeding Our Future trial

Jeffrey Meitrodt, The Minnesota Star Tribune on Feb 3, 2025

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MINNEAPOLIS — A jury was seated Monday for the month-long trial of Feeding Our Future founder Aimee Bock and her co-defendant, Salim Said, who have been charged with multiple felonies for their roles in stealing $250 million from a federal program meant to feed children in need.

Opening statements in the much-anticipated trial will take place next Monday.

Jury selection took an unexpectedly short amount of time. Court officials had set aside four days for jury selection, the same number of days it took to seat a jury in the first Feeding Our Future trial last year. In that trial, it took an unusually long time to find jurors who didn’t have strong opinions about the high-profile case.

Security measures will be bolstered in this month’s trial after last year’s trial ended with an attempted bribe of a juror, a rare incident that drew international media attention and resulted in jurors being sequestered for their safety.

“If anyone tries to approach you about this case, if you hear or see anything inadvertently about this case, do not hesitate to contact staff immediately [or] if anyone approaches you about this case or you come into contact with information about this case, even inadvertently," U.S. District Judge Nancy Brasel told jurors Monday.

This is only the second trial in the sprawling case, which prosecutors have said is one of the largest pandemic-related fraud schemes in the country.

Of the 70 people charged since 2022, 30 have pleaded guilty; five tied to a Shakopee restaurant were convicted by last year’s jury, and two were acquitted. Two more defendants have indicated they will plead guilty this week.

Prosecutors have accused Bock of being the mastermind who figured out how to get dozens of people to bilk the government for millions of meals that were never served, court records show. Bock has denied the allegations, saying she received no improper payments and was unaware of any fraud taking place.

Said co-owned Safari Restaurant in Minneapolis, a once-small Minneapolis business that federal investigators have identified as one of the largest beneficiaries of the fraud scheme.

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