It’s hard for me to explain just how badly I want to see Ilhan Omar held responsible for the growing number of allegations against her. The anti-Americanism was bad enough, but couple that with her alleged involvement in her Minnesota Somali community’s massively expanding fraud scams, and I get giddy at the vision of her mugshot.
With that said, based on the allegations of a whistleblower who has been convicted over her role in the fraud scandals, the day of seeing Omar cuffed and perp-walked to a jail cell has grown closer:
The Minnesota “mastermind” of the state’s massive COVID meal fraud claims “Squad” Rep. Ilhan Omar was in on the $250 million scam.
Aimee Bock, founder of nonprofit Feeding Our Future, was convicted in March 2025 of conspiracy, bribery and wire fraud for allegedly helping restaurant owners file fake or inflated claims during the pandemic to steal millions in child nutrition funds from the government.
She spoke to The Post by video call this week from Sherburne County Jail, where she is awaiting sentencing.
“I struggle to believe that she wouldn’t have known,” Bock said of Omar.
Dozens of members of Minnesota’s Somali community have been convicted of fraudulently billing the state’s Department of Education for millions of meals they claimed they served to low-income children during the COVID outbreak — while pocketing much of the money.
Bock has consistently denied any intentional involvement in the fraud and has stated that she attempted to alert state officials about the issues. Her group was responsible for reviewing the reimbursement paperwork submitted by local restaurants that were meant to provide meals. After reviewing the paperwork, they would distribute the federal funds to those restaurants.
“The notion that I’m personally responsible for all of it . . . is so frustrating. I’m the only white person out of 80 or 90 individuals [charged in the fraud]. I’m the only one that doesn’t speak the language,” she added.
I have no idea if her accusations are true, but they ring true – especially the part about her not speaking the language and it being hard that Omar, whose district contains the largest concentration of Somali nationals in the country, was completely unaware of the widespread fraud:
Omar was instrumental in loosening the laws that set the stage for the scheme — first by introducing the MEALS Act to Congress in March 2020, which allowed the US Department of Agriculture to issue waivers of school-meal requirements during the pandemic.
The waivers dramatically eased oversight of the federal programs by allowing restaurants to participate without any of the usual site inspections.
Omar would personally step in whenever those waivers ran out, allowing the rampant fraud to continue, Bock alleged.
“There had been a couple times early on that there were some gaps – a waiver would be set to expire on maybe the 15th of a month, and then the renewal didn’t kick in until the 1st,” Bock claimed. “Because of course this was supposed to be a short-term thing . . . we were supposed to be home for two weeks.”
Here’s what looks like the final piece of evidence:
Omar has been under fire since her wealth mysteriously jumped from almost nothing to up to $30 million in 2024, a windfall she tried to chalk up to an accounting error.
The congresswoman’s name came up at least six times in emails and text messages presented as court exhibits in Bock’s 2025 federal trial.
According to Bock, 45, the six email exchanges with Omar were about help with the waivers, after Feeding Our Future reached out to the “Squad” rep’s office.
The waivers opened the floodgates for scores of Somali eateries to join in, like Safari, where Omar herself filmed a promotional video claiming “every day Safari provides 2,300 meals to children and their families” in May 2020. She also held her 2018 election night party there.
By that July, Safari claimed to be feeding 5,000 kids a day. Its co-owner, Salim Said, has been convicted of defrauding the government of $16 million – the highest sum in the scheme – and is awaiting sentencing.
“A lot of the sites were working directly with her, being that a lot of the operators were from the same Somali community,” Bock said of Somalia-born Omar.
“There were a lot of people that had been reaching out to her office and staff — and I presume her personally — to work through some of those gaps with the waivers,” Bock added.
Vice President Vance has stated confidently that Omar at least committed marital fraud to enter the U.S. That alone is grounds for denaturalization and deportation. Tie her to this fraud scheme and it should be game over.
I can’t wait to see it.
