US charges dozens with $250m pandemic relief fraud

US prosecutors have charged 47 people in the largest Covid relief fraud scheme alleged to date.

The suspects are accused of stealing $250m (£220m) from a government aid program that was supposed to feed children in need during the pandemic.

They allegedly spent the spoils on properties, cars, and luxury goods.

A Minnesota non-profit organization, Feeding Our Future, is accused of orchestrating the plot. Founder Aimee Bock denies any wrongdoing.

A lawyer for Bock said: “We have maintained our innocence from the first day.”

He said the indictment was “merely the beginning of the criminal process” and represented a “mere allegation”.

FBI Director Christopher Wray said this “egregious plot” was the largest of its kind uncovered so far.

The suspects are alleged to have issued bills for meals they did not serve to children who did not exist, said the Department of Justice (DoJ) in a statement.

They allegedly did so by exploiting a government initiative through which private restaurants could claim funding to distribute food under the sponsorship of non-profit organizations.

The defendants are said to have bribed employees of Feeding Our Future to sponsor numerous sham distribution sites.

These sites claimed to be serving meals to thousands of children a day within just days or weeks of being formed, according to the DoJ.

But they were instead submitting false paperwork using bogus children’s names, some of which were taken from a website, www.listofrandomnames.com.

The group used the proceeds to buy luxury cars, as well as property in the US, Kenya and Turkey, and to fund international travel, the DoJ said.

Agencies