Feeding Our Future trial: alleged ringleader Aimee Bock takes the stand

The ringleader testifies — and the money trail surfaces

In the fourth week of the trial, Aimee Bock, the 44-year-old founder of Feeding Our Future, took the stand in her own defense after the prosecution rested. Her attorney had said the decision to testify was hers alone.

Before she spoke, jurors heard from a final prosecution witness — an FBI forensic accountant who traced the money. According to that testimony, Bock transferred $878,000 from the Feeding Our Future account to a bank account for “Handy Helpers,” a business her boyfriend had incorporated. Out of that account came roughly $212,000 in cash withdrawals and tens of thousands more spent on shopping and vacations.

The jury was shown the spoils: a Las Vegas trip, a Lamborghini rented for $2,000 a day, Louis Vuitton goods, jewelry, and a carpet for Bock’s Twin Cities home. The accountant testified he could find no record of any of that money being used for a legitimate business expense.

Bock’s defense argued that other people inside Feeding Our Future committed the fraud without her knowledge. The jury ultimately rejected that account, convicting her on all counts.

Follow the full case on the Feeding Our Future investigation hub.