ST. LOUIS — Federal prosecutors want a woman who stole millions from a program meant to feed low-income children arrested because she refuses to relinquish control of the finances of a day care business she owns, violating the conditions of her bond.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Derek Wiseman on Thursday filed a motion seeking to revoke bond for Connie Bobo, the St. Charles woman who was indicted in October for netting some $11 million in what prosecutors said was a scheme to defraud a federally funded nutrition program. She has pleaded not guilty.
Bobo has been out on bond since she was indicted on charges of wire fraud, identity theft and obstruction in connection with a scheme where prosecutors said she billed a food program for millions of dollars’ worth of meals that were never provided to low-income children. She used the proceeds to buy houses for herself and for family members and gave $1.4 million to a romantic partner.
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Part of the conditions of her release were that she have no access to anyone’s personal or financial information at the day care she owned, Great Beginnings Learning Center, now known as on Harry S. Truman Boulevard in St. Charles. Bobo was also required to notify day care clients and employees of her fraud charges.
But prosecutors say Bobo recently told a pretrial services officer that she is still “substantially†involved in the day care’s operation.
“Not only did Defendant admit to being the current leaseholder for the daycare, but she also admitted that she controls the financial accounts for the daycare,†prosecutors wrote in last week’s filing. “Even now, it appears that Defendant still controls the financial accounts for the daycare despite being ordered by the Pretrial Services Officer to relinquish such control.â€
Wiseman, in the filing, wrote that when the officer confronted Bobo about her access to the financial information at the business, she warned that “NO WEAPON FORMED AGAINST ME EVER PROSPERS!†— an apparent reference to a verse from Isaiah in the Old Testament.
Prosecutors asked the court to issue a warrant for Bobo’s arrest. She is scheduled to go to trial Jan. 21. Bobo’s attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Post-Dispatch first reported on Bobo and her nonprofit, New Heights Community Resource Center, in November 2022. The newspaper found her nonprofit had claimed over $20 million from two federally funded child nutrition programs in two years and that her nonprofit purchased a $975,000 house where she lived.
Prosecutors said Bobo claimed $11 million in reimbursements for meals that were never delivered, falsely claimed people served on the nonprofit’s board and forged a document as the feds were investigating in 2023. Prosecutors also say she gave $1.4 million to a man the newspaper identified as Howard Hughes III, who used some of the money to buy a $211,000 luxury Mercedes.
The nutrition programs, funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, operated under loosened regulations during the COVID-19 pandemic. State regulators that oversaw the programs, such as the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services here, conducted fewer in-person audits and struggled to keep up with claims that ballooned from many organizations.
The nutrition programs saw among the largest frauds during the pandemic, when people tied to an organization in Minneapolis allegedly stole $250 million. That case was recently back in the headlines after in the trial over the fraud. Five more people were indicted for the bribery scheme.