The accused mastermind behind the sprawling Feeding Our Future fraud case took the witness stand late Friday to testify in her own defense.

Aimee Bock is the former executive director of Feeding Our Future, and on Friday she called out her second-in-command at the nonprofit.

When asked about Abdikerm Eidleh, a former program support manager, Bock testified that he is “a horrible person.”

Eidleh fled the country before the FBI carried out search warrants and made arrests connected to fraud at Feeding Our Future in 2022.

Bock is facing charges of wire fraud and bribery after investigators say she orchestrated the stealing of nearly $250 million from a federal food program during the pandemic.

There was a question about whether Bock would actually take the stand. On Thursday, Bock’s attorney, Kenneth Udoibok, told reporters that he had advised her not to testify.

But the defense changed course when Judge Nancy Brasel denied a last minute motion to throw out all charges after the prosecution rested its case.

“I get the sense that someone has to be blamed and it’s Ms. Bock,” said Kenneth Udoibok, Bock’s defense attorney.

The decision to call Bock as a witness in her own trial is a dangerous one, according to experienced attorneys who have spoken with 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS, including Chris Madel.

“It is just a beyond risky maneuver to put your client on the stand during a white collar case,” Madel said.

Madel, who is not involved in the Feeding Our Future trial, acknowledged that it is any defendant’s constitutional right to testify, but that he often advises his clients against it.

“There have been a lot of studies in white-collar cases that when a… defendant testifies, it normally does not go well for that defendant,” Madel said. “It’s difficult for the prosecution to try to tell the jury this person specifically intended to defraud unless that person gets up on the stand, in which case the jury can kind of listen to him or her and go, ‘You know what? I think that you’re a liar and and I think that I’m going to convict you.'”

Much of Bock’s testimony still lies ahead. She will likely be asked about how she spent time and money with her former live-in boyfriend, Empress Malcolm Watson, Jr.

Earlier Friday, a forensic accountant with the FBI testified that Bock and Feeding Our Future funneled more than $1 million to Watson and his company, Handy Helpers LLC.

Rather than finding evidence of handyman work done for the nonprofit, investigators traced the money to personal spending by Bock and Watson, including two trips to Las Vegas.

Records shown to the jury document how the couple spent thousands of dollars to rent two Lamborghinis and a Rolls Royce, along with other purchases at high-end stores such as Louis Vuitton.

“Just imagine that cross-examination,” Madel said. “You’re supposed to be working at a nonprofit and feeding children, and juxtapose that next to sitting in a very fancy car in Las Vegas.”

Bock is expected to continue her testimony when the trial resumes next week.

Click here for KSTP’s full Feeding Our Future coverage.