MINNEAPOLIS (NewsNation) — An attorney for the woman convicted of orchestrating a $250 million COVID-19 fraud scheme says his client warned Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz’s administration and Attorney General Keith Ellison about fraud years before she was charged, but officials did nothing and later lied about what they knew.

Kenneth Udoibok, attorney for Aimee Bock, founder of Feeding Our Future, said his client flagged possible fraud to the state and the attorney general’s office in 2020 and 2021, even inviting officials to review boxes of documentation. He said they never came.

“The governor’s office is responsible ultimately for what his agencies do. He’s the governor, after all, and Feeding Our Future through Ms. Bock reported to MDE, one of his agencies, fraudulent organizations,” Udoibok said.

“That’s a fact, and his agencies did nothing about that. The Attorney General’s office was invited by Feeding Our Future to come to Feeding Our Future and review documents, boxes, close to 100 boxes of the operation of Feeding Our Future. They declined.”

Bock was convicted in March 2025 on wire fraud and other charges in the $250 million scheme, the largest known COVID-19 fraud case in the country.

Audio shows Ellison pledging support while group discusses donations

NewsNation obtained a 2021 audio recording in which Ellison pledges support to members of the Somali community — some later convicted in the Feeding Our Future fraud — while they discuss campaign donations to him and his family.

In the recording, an unidentified male says: “To protect and keep what we have, and the only way we can protect what we have is by inserting ourselves into the political arena, putting our votes where it needs to be, but most importantly, putting our dollars in the right place, and supporting candidates that will fight to protect our interests.”

Ellison responds: “That’s right.”

Later in the conversation, Ellison says, “We are in the middle of the battle with the agencies now.”

Minutes later, he adds: “Walz agrees with me that this piddly, stupid stuff running small people out of business is terrible.”

Near the end of the meeting, Ellison assures the group, “Of course, I’m here to help,” and “Let’s go fight these people.”

The tape raises questions about a possible quid pro quo, as Ellison offered to push back against state agencies even as contributions from related individuals followed.

Ellison says he did nothing wrong, met people ‘in good faith’

Ellison defended his actions in an April op-ed in the Minneapolis Star Tribune, writing: “I took a meeting in good faith with people I didn’t know, and some turned out to have done bad things. I did nothing for them and took nothing from them.”

In April testimony before the Minnesota House Oversight Committee, Ellison said: “I guess I don’t agree that I did anything wrong other than listen to people who ended up being liars.”

Udoibok maintains that the Somali immigrants currently in prison didn’t steal millions alone — they had help from state officials who saw fraud, did nothing and lied about what they knew and when.

Treasury vows to prosecute officials ‘in Minnesota government’

The Trump administration has promised a full forensic accounting of Minnesota’s fraud schemes, which now span at least 15 different programs and billions of dollars in losses.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the federal government intends to pursue all individuals involved in Minnesota’s fraud schemes, regardless of their position or location.

“We follow the money, and we intend to follow it as much as we can, prosecute the individuals, no matter where they are, whether they are in the Minnesota government or they are sitting in East Africa, we will find them,” Bessent said at a press conference.

Bessent said he was aware of audio recordings involving Ellison.