What federal court filings or indictments have emerged from the Minnesota fraud investigation tied to Feeding Our Future?
Executive summary
Federal prosecutors opened a major criminal case in 2022 against Feeding Our Future and its network, initially indicting 47 people on allegations they stole roughly $250 million in federal child nutrition funds during the pandemic [1] [2]. Over the next three years the investigation expanded: dozens more defendants were charged, multiple trials produced convictions and guilty pleas, and federal filings accused defendants of wire fraud, conspiracy, bribery and related offenses while prosecutors increased loss estimates to as much as $350 million [3] [4] [5].
1. The first federal indictments — 47 defendants and the September 2022 filing
The Justice Department’s first comprehensive criminal filing announced in September 2022 charged 47 former Feeding Our Future employees and contractors in what federal officials described as one of the largest pandemic-relief fraud schemes, alleging about $250 million was misused from child nutrition programs [2] [1]. Those initial indictments framed the case as systematic false reimbursement claims and diversion of federal meal-program money to personal luxury spending, and they triggered FBI raids and state funding cuts earlier that year [2] [4].
2. Expansion of charges and subsequent indictments through 2024–2025
Prosecutors later broadened the probe, bringing additional federal charges beyond the original group and steadily increasing the roster of indicted suspects: reporting shows the tally rose from 47 to 70 by October 2024 and to at least 78 individuals by late 2025, with new indictments alleging related fraud in other state-administered benefit programs as investigators traced networks and reimbursement schemes [3] [5]. Court filings and reporting indicate prosecutors pursued not only reimbursement fraud but also related bribery and money-laundering counts as the inquiry mapped payments and transfers [3] [6].
3. Trials, guilty pleas and convictions documented in federal court records
Federal court proceedings produced both guilty pleas and trial convictions: a June 2024 jury convicted five defendants in an early trial, and reporting and court documents show dozens of additional defendants pleaded guilty or were convicted at trial in subsequent proceedings [2] [3]. High-profile convictions include charges of wire fraud, conspiracy and bribery against central figures identified in indictments, and at least one alleged mastermind was found guilty on multiple counts according to press summaries [6] [3].
4. Financial sequestration and loss estimates reflected in filings
Court-related public statements and filings reflect ongoing asset seizures and loss estimates: prosecutors reported seizing between $60 million and $70 million tied to Feeding Our Future, while federal officials’ accounting and later filings increased estimates of total fraud tied to the case from roughly $250 million to as much as $350 million in early January 2026 [1] [3]. Those financial figures appear in DOJ announcements and in reporting that synthesizes statements from prosecutors and court records [1] [3].
5. Related filings: bribery indictments and downstream prosecutions
Beyond the core fraud indictments, federal filings charged some defendants in supplemental matters such as bribery; press accounts note additional indictments in late stages of the investigation that targeted alleged corrupt payments connected to the larger scheme, and court documents show prosecutors returned superseding indictments and brought separate counts as investigations uncovered new evidence [3] [5]. Reporting also notes that at least some individuals initially acquitted on certain charges later faced new indictments tied to bribery or related conduct [3].
6. What the filings do not (yet) show and limitations of public records
Public reporting and curated court summaries make clear the scale of charging documents and convictions, but not every federal filing is publicly summarized in the sources available here; grand-jury dynamics and some DOJ struggles to secure indictments in adjacent Minnesota probes also appear in coverage, indicating gaps and prosecutorial challenges beyond the Feeding Our Future docket [7]. Where source material does not provide a full docket-level inventory of every indictment, plea or superseding charging document, this account relies on aggregated reporting and DOJ public statements rather than exhaustive case-by-case federal court filings [4] [2].