Opening statements began Monday in Aimee Bock’s trial in the Feeding Our Future fraud. Prosecutors say she was the mastermind while her attorney says she was a victim.

Seventy people have been indicted in connection to alleged fraud tied to Feeding Our Future, 30 of whom have already pleaded guilty. Five defendants were convicted at trial last year where authorities say people tied to the case tried to bribe a juror with $120,000. Some who have pleaded guilty have agreed to testify against Bock and Said.

Feeding Our Future founder Aimee Bock, right, walks into court with her attorney Kenneth Udoibok at the U.S. District Courthouse in Minneapolis on Monday. Monday was the first day of opening statements in the trial for Bock and Salim Said,

Lul Ali testified that Aimee Bock coached her to participate in the Feeding Our Future fraud and “destroyed” the Somali community.

Prosecutors on Tuesday called two witnesses in the trial of Aimee Bock, the founder and former executive director of Feeding Our Future.

Aimee Bock, the founder of the defunct Twin Cities nonprofit Feeding Our Future, is facing trial along with Salim Said, who co-owned Safari Restaurant on Lake Street.

Federal prosecutors say the scheme exploited the COVID-19 pandemic in an effort to steal $250 million from a program meant to feed children.

Jurors heard opening statements Monday in the trial of Feeding Our Future founder Aimee Bock and Salim Said, one of her co-defendants. Federal prosecutors allege that Bock was the ringleader of a $250 million scheme to defraud taxpayer-funded child nutrition programs during the pandemic and that Said’s restaurant siphoned $16 million of that.

Monday marks the beginning of the trial of the alleged ringleader of a scheme that federal prosecutors say exploited the COVID-19 pandemic to steal $250 million from a program meant to feed children.