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Judge clears way for Minnesota welfare fraud ringleader to forfeit Porsche, millions held in accounts
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Aimee Bock, the alleged mastermind behind Minnesota’s $250 million Feeding Our Future fraud scandal tied to the Somali community, is facing forfeiture of a Porsche, property, designer handbags and millions of dollars after a federal judge approved a preliminary order.
A judge signed off on the preliminary forfeiture order last week, clearing the way for the government to seize assets that prosecutors say were purchased with ill-gotten taxpayer funds, according to MPR News, a Minnesota-based news outlet.
The assets include about $3.7 million in bank accounts and cash, a 2013 Porsche and luxury items taken from her home, according to MPR News. The U.S. attorney’s office listed the total forfeiture judgment at $5.2 million. Federal agents seized the assets in 2022, and the judge has now approved their forfeiture on a preliminary basis following Bock’s conviction.
A federal jury in March found Bock guilty on all counts she faced, including wire fraud, conspiracy and bribery. She is currently awaiting sentencing.
REP TOM EMMER: WALZ OVERSAW BILLIONS IN STOLEN TAXPAYER MONEY — NOW COMES ACCOUNTABILITY
A split image shows defendant Aimee Bock in the Feeding Our Future fraud case, left, and a separate photo introduced as evidence during the trial depicting luxury spending allegedly tied to people in her network, right. (Sherburne County Sheriff’s Office; Department of Justice)
Bock founded the Feeding Our Future nonprofit in 2016, and, for years, it operated modestly, handling roughly $3 million to $4 million annually in federal child nutrition reimbursements, according to prosecutors.
That trajectory changed abruptly during the COVID-19 pandemic, when emergency rule changes loosened oversight and allowed sponsors to submit claims without normal verification.
As executive director of Feeding Our Future, Bock approved meal sites, some of which were fake, and then certified the claims, signing off on the reimbursements from the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE).
MEET MINNESOTA’S FRAUD ‘MASTERMIND’ ACCUSED OF PLAYING ‘GOD,’ WIELDING ‘FAKE’ RACISM CLAIMS IN SOMALI SCANDAL
Government Exhibits BB-50 and BB-1 show designer bags, jewelry, cash piles, a Lamborghini photo and a white Mercedes prosecutors labeled as «Handy Helpers Spending» to illustrate the lavish lifestyle inside the network surrounding Aimee Bock. Prosecutors made no claim that Bock personally bought these items. (Department of Justice)
She would soon preside over a network that claimed to have served 91 million meals, for which prosecutors say the scammers fraudulently received nearly $250 million in federal funds, a scale of growth that far outpaced the nonprofit’s pre-pandemic size and internal capacity.
Later filings and sentencing releases described the total impact as closer to $300 million. Attorney General Pam Bondi has suggested it may reach $400 million.
Prosecutors described Bock as the scheme’s gatekeeper who wielded near-total control over approvals and reimbursements that allowed the fraud to expand at a staggering pace.
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Government Exhibit S-12 shows Aimee Bock at a bank counter making a $30,000 cash withdrawal, evidence prosecutors said was tied to the bribery and kickback allegation in Count 40. (Department of Justice)
She was also involved in a kickback scheme by accepting cash payments from meal site operators in exchange for site approvals and reimbursements, prosecutors said.
In 2021, when the MDE grew suspicious and tried to stop the flow of funds, Feeding Our Future sued, alleging racial discrimination.
Of the 78 defendants charged to date, 57 have been convicted, according to Bondi, who said that 72 of the defendants are of Somalian descent, while five defendants are «currently fugitives in Africa.»
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El Grupo Patio, considerado uno de los holdings inmobiliarios más destacados de Chile, atraviesa una grave crisis interna derivada de acusaciones de manipulación en la valoración de la compañía y la presentación de querellas por parte de accionistas y afectados.
La empresa, fundada a comienzos de los años 2000 por la familia Jalaff, cuenta con más de USD 4.000 millones en activos y opera en Chile, Perú, México y Estados Unidos. En los últimos años, el grupo se consolidó como un referente en el mercado inmobiliario latinoamericano.
La crisis actual se originó tras la aparición de actas de directorio que reflejan presuntas malas prácticas y decisiones cuestionables. Este conflicto, reportan medios locales, ha generado una crisis de confianza, que podría limitar el acceso a financiamiento y afectar la relación con acreedores y la percepción general del mercado.
El foco del conflicto se sitúa en la determinación del precio de la participación de Antonio Jalaff, uno de los fundadores, basada en un informe elaborado por la consultora Econsult.
Un grupo de 23 aportantes y herederos de la familia Jalaff presentaron acciones judiciales, argumentando que el informe fue solicitado y financiado por quienes buscaban adquirir esas acciones, dando lugar, según su denuncia, a una valoración artificialmente baja.
Para la querella no hay dudas de que dicho informe fue solicitado y financiado por los compradores, lo que habría resultado en una apreciación artificialmente deprimida del real valor de Grupo Patio.
Según la querella, el informe de Econsult “construyó una imagen económica distorsionada y artificialmente depreciada del Grupo Patio, generando una apariencia falsa sobre el estado financiero del conglomerado”.
A esto se añade, según la denuncia, la falta de transparencia en la metodología, generando cuestionamientos sobre la objetividad del valor fijado y un fuerte impacto en el fondo administrado por el holding.
En declaraciones recogidas por Diario Financiero, Antonio Jalaff manifestó su inquietud sobre el daño sufrido por la empresa y su propia reputación. “Aquí hay gente que ha hecho malas prácticas para inflar su trayectoria empresarial y su ego, a costa del daño económico a acreedores que confiaron en mí y en una compañía que fundé junto a mi padre”, afirmó.
Ante el 4º Juzgado de Garantía de Santiago, Antonio Jalaff presentó una querella por estafa. En ella sostiene que la venta de su participación se realizó bajo una “maquinación fraudulenta”. El perjuicio económico estimado alcanza las 700.000 UF (unos USD 28,5 millones), al haberse concretado la operación a un precio que describe como artificialmente disminuido.
Jalaff denunció: “No nos quedó otra opción. Fueron los compradores y sus asesores quienes impusieron el valor final de la venta, y nos vimos obligados a aceptarlo… nunca aprobé la venta a ese precio, sino que fui arrastrado por las circunstancias y los quórums de las respectivas sociedades”, afirmó entonces.
Álvaro Jalaff sostuvo una posición similar y acusó en El Mostrador, que otros accionistas buscaron aislar a su familia, facilitando el control hostil del grupo.
La operación fue estructurada por Larraín Vial, la mayor corredora de bolsa y firma de finanzas corporativas de Chile. Su historial reciente, que incluye otros escándalo de corrucpción conocido como el caso Factop, agrega presión reputacional al proceso.
Las repercusiones de este caso se extienden más allá del ámbito judicial, impactan la confianza en la gobernanza corporativa y la transparencia financiera dentro de los grandes conglomerados regionales. Los efectos, advierten medios locales, podrían convertirse en un precedente para la gestión empresarial y la dinámica de poder en el sector inmobiliario de Chile y Latinoamérica.
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Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro’s regime was crucial to propping up America’s closest Communist neighbor, Cuba, for many years — but with the despot now in a New York prison, U.S. lawmakers and analysts are turning their attention to Mexico, a top U.S. ally and trading partner that has quietly taken Venezuela’s place.
As of January, Mexico reportedly accounted for 13,000 barrels per day, or 44%, of Cuba’s 2025 oil imports, the top factor keeping what some lawmakers describe as a teetering economy barely afloat. With renewed trade talks approaching in July, Republican lawmakers and conservative analysts are calling for increased pressure on Mexico to cut off Cuba’s oil lifeline.
The Trump administration is also weighing instituting a maritime blockade on oil imports to Cuba, according to Politico. The outlet noted that the move would be an escalation of its previously-stated plan to cut off imports from Venezuela, where Maduro’s former Vice President Delcy Rodríguez is now acting president. Such a blockade could spur crisis in the country and lead to the economic collapse of the Castro/Diaz-Canel regime for which much of the U.S. diaspora has long hoped.
«The Cuban government was, even before this action with Maduro, probably at the weakest point that the regime has been in the last 65 years,» said Rep. Carlos Gimenez, R-Fla., the only Cuban-born member of Congress.
AS TRUMP URGES DEAL, CUBAN PRESIDENT WARNS THAT THE COUNTRY WILL DEFEND ITSELF ‘TO THE LAST DROP OF BLOOD’
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, left; Cuban dictator Miguel Diaz-Canel, right. (Sergio Morales/Getty Images; Jesus Vargas/Getty Images)
«This just makes them weaker. My one concern is that it appears that Mexico is now trying to prop them up. And so, the oil that they were receiving from Venezuela is now being supplanted by oil being received by Mexico.»
The Florida Republican said Mexico is in such a position in part because it is «governed by a Marxist,» casting criticism of socialist-party-aligned President Claudia Sheinbaum.
«The oil that they were receiving from Venezuela is now being supplanted by oil being received by Mexico,» he said.
«It doesn’t matter that [the Miguel Diaz-Canel] regime [in Cuba] has been suppressing and oppressing its people for 65 years, as long as they have the right ideology.»
MARCO RUBIO EMERGES AS KEY TRUMP POWER PLAYER AFTER VENEZUELA OPERATION
Gimenez said that Congress could use upcoming intracontinental trade talks over the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) to pressure Sheinbaum to stop supporting the dictatorship just 90 miles from Fort Zachary Taylor, at the southern tip of his district.
Cuba is already experiencing rolling blackouts, inability to feed its people, medical shortages and a nosedive in tourism due to those developments, he said.
«Would it be okay for us to kind of nudge them over the edge? I don’t know a problem with that,» he quipped.
SENATE REPUBLICAN PREDICTS THE FALL OF THE CUBAN REGIME
Andres Martinez-Fernandez, a Latin America and national security policy analyst who leads the Heritage Foundation’s research on the region, told Fox News Digital that U.S. tolerance for Mexico’s new position may not last.
«It’s a major issue,» he said, adding the Mexico-Cuba relationship got to «worrying levels» under Sheinbaum’s predecessor and now involves a Cuban medical program he called «forced slavery for revenue» involving Cuban doctors arriving in Mexico and sending remittances home – much of which can get funneled to the regime.
If Mexico City wants to continue aiding Havana, it had better prepare for «severe pushback,» he said, similarly citing the USMCA negotiations that Gimenez mentioned.
CUBA’S PRESIDENT DEFIANT, SAYS NO NEGOTIATIONS SCHEDULED AS TRUMP MOVES TO CHOKE OFF OIL LIFELINE
Those aspects, along with President Donald Trump’s discontent with Sheinbaum’s resistance to U.S. action against cartels could come to a head, he suggested, calling Mexico’s attitude «mendacious and duplicitous.»
«It says nothing good if they decide, to maintain this overt support for the Cuban regime as we continue to see this inadequate action on the cartel front.»
Trump declared earlier this month that there will be «no more oil or money going to Cuba – Zero» and the Department of War has been seizing sanctioned «shadow-fleet» oil tankers.
A White House official said Cuba is failing of its own volition and that its rulers suffered a major setback in losing support from the ousted Maduro regime. Trump believes Cuba should make a deal «before it is too late.»
Meanwhile, the aforementioned USMCA talks are scheduled to take place in July, when the trilateral trade deal undergoes a scheduled review.
The U.S. is likely to seek additional concessions from Mexico and Canada amid trade disputes, the Center for Strategic and International Studies predicted last year, with the interceding Mexico-Cuba development likely to further invigorate such demands.
VENEZUELA’S ACTING LEADER WAS ONCE A DEA ‘PRIORITY TARGET’: REPORT
A man waves a Cuban flag at a protest. (Yamil Lage/Getty Images)
The Sheinbaum administration, which did not respond to a request for comment, has reportedly painted its shipments as «humanitarian aid» for the Cuban people.
If Mexico continues oil shipments, it may lead to additionally tense relations between the U.S. and its southern neighbor, already frayed by Trump’s disdain for Sheinbaum’s steadfast refusal to allow American intercession against drug cartels.
If the shipments slacken, that may portend well for the aforementioned upcoming trade negotiations.
As for Cuba, many pro-democracy voices, particularly among the South Florida diaspora, hope the 66-year Castro/Diaz-Canel regime is not long for this world.
Martinez-Fernandez added the regime is likely facing one of the most difficult moments in its history; Mexico’s role aside.
RUBIO LAYS OUT THREE-PHASE PLAN FOR VENEZUELA AFTER MADURO: ‘NOT JUST WINGING IT’
In the 1990s, Cuba lost its larger «patron,» the Soviet Union, he said, and hit a rough patch until Hugo Chavez took power in 1999.
He added that while there has been Western concern about a Chinese foothold there, Beijing appears to have largely «cut ties» and said «there’s nothing new here.»
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«I do think that there is a likely need for additional developments before we see… That kind of next step collapse of the regime itself,» he said.
Fox News Digital reached out to the White House, Commerce Department and the Palacio Nacional for comment.
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