ST. PAUL, Minn. — Today, Aimee Bock, ringleader in the Feeding Our Future scandal, was sentenced to 41 years in prison for her role in defrauding the government. In response, Senator Heather Gustafson (DFL-Vadnais Heights), author of legislation to create an independent Office of Inspector General in the state, released the following statement:
“Today’s developments in the Feeding Our Future case show exactly why Minnesota needed a statewide, independent Office of the Inspector General (OIG) and it’s why I spent two years making sure my bill would become law. Front-line employees at the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) saw the red flags, raised concerns, and were blocked by their own agency from investigating the suspicious activity. With no independent place to turn, those warnings went nowhere and taxpayer dollars were gone. That’s the gap Minnesota’s new Office of the Inspector General closes.
“Under the OIG, a state employee who witnesses fraud or misuse of public funds, or whose agency is ignoring warning signs, can report the concerns directly to the Inspector General. The OIG can then conduct its own independent investigation, with no departmental interference and no chain of command running back to the people being watched.
“Think about what that would have looked like at MDE. The employees who were raising alarms wouldn’t have had to convince their supervisors. They wouldn’t have had to worry about retaliation from within their own agency. They could have gone directly to an independent investigator with subpoena power, access to agency records, and the authority to freeze funds, with due process, while the investigation was underway. Any external pressure that came from outside the department would have had no bearing on the investigation whatsoever.
“That independence is written into law. The Inspector General cannot be directed or overruled by any agency, any commissioner, or any external pressure regardless of who is in office. It doesn’t have to weigh whether an investigation is inconvenient. It follows the evidence. Feeding Our Future happened in that gap. Minnesota has now closed it.”
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Learn more about Sen. Gustafson.
