Senate Minority Leader Mark Johnson (R- East Grand Forks) released the following statement after hearing the jury delivered mostly guilty verdicts in the Feeding our Future fraud case:

“Today’s verdicts are a reminder that fraud cannot be tolerated in Minnesota. The convicted defendants did not just defraud government and taxpayers, they used hungry kids as part of a get-rich-quick scheme for the defendants. That’s just unacceptable.

“These verdicts bring some justice, but there are many questions remaining on why state officials failed to stop more than $250 million in fraudulent payments from going to bad actors. We must do better to stop fraud at the outset to protect taxpayers and Minnesota families from ever being defrauded to this level again.”

Five defendants received guilty convictions on most of the charges brought against them by the U.S. Attorney’s office. Two defendants were acquitted. Seventy people have been similarly charged in what is likely the largest COVID-related fraud in the nation.