MO Exec Gets 16 Years for $20M Food Fraud

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St. Louis – Connie Bobo, 46, will spend the next 16 years in federal prison after a judge slammed her with the sentence Monday for orchestrating a brazen $19.7 million scheme to steal from a program designed to feed hungry Missouri kids. Bobo, formerly the head of New Heights Community Resource Center, siphoned funds intended for after-school and summer meals into a lavish lifestyle, leaving kids to go without.

Federal prosecutors detailed a systematic fraud dating back to 2018. Bobo fabricated documents – board members, trainings, even the organization’s bylaws – to qualify for state meal program money. For three years, she filed bogus reimbursement claims, funneling millions into her own pockets. The evidence revealed a clear pattern of self-enrichment at the expense of children in need.

The FBI seized a $1 million home, a Mercedes-Benz G-Wagon, and four additional properties purchased with the stolen funds. Testimony showed Bobo used the money for a $200,000 G550 for a romantic partner, a new home for herself, and a $2.2 million commercial real estate investment. U.S. Attorney Thomas Albus called it the largest public assistance fraud in Missouri history. “Hungry children were turned away,” Albus stated, “when Bobo’s distribution events ran out of food.”

Assistant U.S. Attorney Derek Wiseman argued in a sentencing memo that Bobo’s intent was fraudulent from the very beginning. Judge Audrey Fleissig ordered Bobo to repay the full $19.7 million in restitution, though recovering those funds remains uncertain. Special Agent in Charge Chris Crocker of the FBI St. Louis Division described Bobo’s greed as “reprehensible.”