The plot to steal $250 million from hungry children
Post Reports
The Washington Post
4.4 • 5.1K Ratings
🗓️ 21 September 2022
⏱️ 20 minutes
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Summary
How a pandemic food program was used to allegedly defraud the government of $250 million.
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This week, the federal government indicted 47 people connected to the Minnesota-based nonprofit Feeding Our Future in the largest known pandemic fraud scheme. The nonprofit claimed to be giving meals to thousands of kids who needed them. Instead, the Justice Department said, they were using bribes and shell companies to falsify information, and in some cases used the federal money they got to buy real estate, luxury cars and jewelry.
Congressional economic policy reporter Tony Romm reports on how the complex scheme was pulled off and what it reveals about how the government was spending relief money during the pandemic.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | In March 2020, early in the pandemic, a small group of people in Minnesota had an idea and |
| 0:10.4 | saw an opportunity. |
| 0:12.7 | These individuals believed they could steal tens of millions of dollars from a federal |
| 0:17.5 | child nutrition program by claiming to serve food to needy children when they were not. |
| 0:25.6 | This is a Justice Department press conference that took place Tuesday in Minnesota. |
| 0:31.2 | Before long, the scheme that began with a simple idea in March of 2020 grew to become the |
| 0:37.8 | largest pandemic fraud in the United States. |
| 0:42.9 | Good morning. |
| 0:44.2 | My name is Andy Luger and I am the United States attorney for the District of Minnesota. |
| 0:53.7 | I think I was surprised but also I wasn't surprised. |
| 0:56.6 | I mean, in the words of the Justice Department, this was a pretty brazen theft. |
| 1:02.1 | That is Tony Rom. |
| 1:03.4 | He's an economics reporter and he has been following stories about federal COVID relief money |
| 1:08.7 | since the pandemic first started. |
| 1:10.8 | I mean, this is $250 million taken by a nonprofit and some of the individuals connected to it |
| 1:17.5 | according to the DOJ. |
| 1:19.1 | But at the same time, while it may have been shocking to see the headline of the theft, |
| 1:23.3 | it may just be the beginning of what we're going to see over the years to come as the |
| 1:26.8 | US government keeps watch over this money. |
| 1:30.3 | Nearly $250 million stolen from a program that gave food to needy children. |
| 1:37.8 | As one of our producers said, it is literally stealing candy from babies and it could be |
| 1:43.3 | just the tip of the iceberg. |
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