Aimee Bock and Salim Said were found guilty in a massive fraud in March 2025. Salim Said lied that Safari Restaurant and Event Center prepared and served 5,000 meals a day seven days a week to children during the COVID-19 pandemic. It received $15m intended to feed children between May 2020 and November 2021.
“The defendants falsely claimed to have served 91 million meals, for which they fraudulently received nearly $250 million in federal funds. That money did not go to feed kids. Instead, it was used to fund their lavish lifestyles.” Bock and Said created dozens of shell companies to enroll in the program as food program sites, and to receive and launder the proceeds. More than $18m in administrative fees were stolen by the pair. They solicited and received bribes and kickbacks. In total, Feeding Our Future opened more than 250 bogus Federal Child Nutrition Program sites throughout the state of Minnesota.
Safari Restaurant profited more than any of the roughly 200 food sites that participated in the biggest COVID fraud scheme in the U.S. In the first month of its enrollment in the food program, April 2020, the Somali restaurant had already made more than $376,000 — an income equivalent to what it made in a typical year. Soon Safari Restaurant would be stealing more than $1m a month. The restaurant has since been shuttered.
Bock was convicted on four counts of wire fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, one count of bribery, and one count of conspiracy to commit federal programs bribery. Said was convicted on one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, four counts of wire fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit federal programs bribery, eight counts of bribery, one count conspiracy to commit money laundering and five counts of money laundering. Said bought a $2.8m Minneapolis mansion, a $950k home in Plymouth and an $87k truck.
Both were taken into custody after being convicted and await sentencing. On August 22, 2025 a judge denied motions from Aimee Bock and Salim Said seeking to have their fraud convictions thrown out. Abdiaziz Farah, a key figure among the 70 charged in the Feeding Our Future fraud scheme, was sentenced to 28 years in prison.
Aimee Bock’s boyfriend Empress Malcolm Watson Jr. was charged with tax crimes. He faces two counts of filing false or fraudulent tax returns, one count of failing to file individual income tax returns and three counts of failing to pay income taxes. From 2020-2022, Watson received over $1m from Bock.
Owners and partners of Safari Restaurant made large donations to the reelection campaign of Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey. Abdulkadir Nur Salah and Salim Said appear in campaign records as donors to Mayor Frey. The warrant identifies the two as owners of Safari Restaurant. Abdikadir Mohamud was appointed by the mayor to a committee for public safety.
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