00:00The founder of a Minnesota food program that bilked taxpayers out of $250 million
00:04has been slapped with 41 years in prison for a fraud that prosecutors say took food out of the
00:10mouths of hungry kids. Amy Bach and her convicted co-defendant Salim Saeed falsely claimed to have
00:15served 91 million meals. In 2021, Bach even received an award for her supposed good work
00:21with the non-profit she headed, Feeding Our Future, as seen in this video.
00:36But in reality, they weren't using the money to feed hungry children. Instead, they used
00:40the quarter billion dollars in federal funds to bankroll their lavish lifestyles, including
00:45splurges on luxury cars, designer handbags, and properties worldwide. Bach was handed the stiff
00:52sentence on Tuesday after being convicted of all counts last March, with prosecutors
00:57describing the 45-year-old as the ringleader of the biggest pandemic-era fraud schemes in
01:02the country. She will also be required to pay $5.2 million in restitution. Bach recently lamented
01:09to Fox News her belief that even though she's the one being punished for the crimes, the
01:13bigger issue is how local leaders kept giving fraudsters taxpayer money.
01:17I have to believe that the governor's office and Keith Ellison's office were aware of this.
01:24They've said they were involved in helping the FBI. They've said they were made aware.
01:30But apparently I'm scary, so they couldn't do anything. It all went through a process.
01:37They were all approved. They were all paid by the state. Yet, all the fingers are being pointed
01:42at me. Most of the other defendants in the case are Somali immigrants, and the recipients of the aid
01:47were meant to be members of the Somali community in Minnesota. Investigators said Feeding Our Future
01:53went from receiving $3 million in federal aid to more than $200 million in 2021. But when the
01:59Minnesota Department of Education started asking questions about the rapid increase, Bach filed a
02:04lawsuit against the state agency, and the cash kept rolling in. The taxpayer money was only cut off
02:10after the FBI, IRS, and other federal agencies executed raids at 26 locations across Minnesota,
02:18believed to be engaging in fraudulent activity in January 2022. So far, 79 people have been charged
02:24in connection with the Feeding Our Future fraud scheme with more than 60 convictions.
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