Fraud is a cancer that erodes public trust and creates a springboard for further criminality. When I was Chair of the Committee on Education and the Workforce, I was the very first to call attention to the egregious fraud occurring in Minnesota under the Feeding Our Future program. At the time, this was referred to as the “largest COVID-19 fraud scheme in the nation”, and it still is to this day. As I have mentioned to you previously, at the time, I had subpoenaed Governor Tim Walz for answers about how he had allowed this fraud to occur under his watch, and I confronted him again in March of this year when he appeared before the House Oversight Committee. There’s been a development that I want to share with you.

Amy Bock, the Founder and Executive Director of Feeding Our Future, was sentenced to 500 months in prison for her role in the $250 million fraud scheme that exploited a federally funded child nutrition program during the COVID-19 pandemic. Feeding Our Future was nothing more than a front group operating under the guise of a need-based organization that provided resources to hungry children living in poverty. This group funneled the dollars of hardworking taxpayers just like you to bad actors who use them to pay for lavish homes, luxury cars, and trips overseas. Here’s an excerpt of the Department of Justice’s recent announcement of Bock’s sentencing:

To accomplish their scheme, Bock and her co-conspirators created dozens of shell companies to enroll in the program as food program sites, and to receive and launder the proceeds of their fraudulent scheme. In exchange for sponsoring these sites’ fraudulent participation in the program, Feeding Our Future received more than $18 million in administrative fees to which it was not entitled. In addition to the administrative fees, Feeding Our Future employees solicited and received bribes and kickbacks from individuals and companies sponsored by Feeding Our Future. Many of these kickbacks were paid in cash or disguised as “consulting fees” paid to shell companies created by Feeding Our Future employees to make them appear legitimate.

Thanks to the continued efforts of President Trump, Vice President Vance and the White House Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, and our Republican majorities in Congress, waste, fraud, and abuse are being exposed every day. And, as I called to your attention in my May 8^th newsletter, we are advancing commonsense legislation to confront waste, fraud, and abuse head on. Our work to protect the tax dollars of hardworking Americans across the nation will continue without delay. While this development is welcome news, I am still continuing to push forward for more answers and complete accountability – the American people deserve nothing less.

Local Spotlight

Every year, some of our area’s finest young men and women take a significant step forward in their personal and professional lives by applying to our nation’s service academies. Recently, I was proud to nominate Riley Olson, a senior at Watauga High School, to the Air Force Academy. Riley is an exceptional young woman with a bright future ahead of her, and I’m very pleased that she was accepted into the Academy. I am confident that Riley will make great strides in her future endeavors, and I wish her all the best. 

To learn more about service academy nominations through my office, and the process, click here. 

A Piece of American History

In response to heightened tensions between the American colonies and Great Britain, on May 31, 1775, local leaders in what is now Mecklenburg County gathered for a committee meeting at the Mecklenburg Courthouse to draft the Mecklenburg Resolves. The Resolves consisted of 20 separate articles that began with a declaration that any authority of the King or British Parliament over the colonies in America was “annulled and vacated”. Further, the Resolves laid the groundwork for local control and command at the county level. As the news of the adoption of the Mecklenburg Resolves began to spread, other counties across North Carolina began to adopt their own.

To learn more about the Mecklenburg Resolves, click here.

Quote of The Week

“Things gained through unjust fraud are never secure.”

-Sophocles

Have a blessed weekend,