St. Louis Woman Found Guilty of Embezzling $11 Million from Children's Meal Fund

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ST. LOUIS (KTVI) – In a major legal verdict, a former leader of a nonprofit organization in St. Louis County has been found guilty of embezzling $11 million from a program aimed at providing meals to children from low-income families in the area.

On Thursday, a federal jury convicted Connie Bobo, 46, of St. Charles, on several charges, including three counts of wire fraud, one count of aggravated identity theft, and two counts related to obstruction, as per federal court records.

Bobo once held the role of executive director at the New Heights Community Resource Center, a nonprofit organization committed to supplying meals to school-age children in need, both after school hours and during the summer months.

The case against Bobo, detailed in a federal indictment unsealed two years prior, alleges that she falsely reported delivering over three million meals to children through New Heights from February 2019 to March 2022. These meals were never actually purchased or distributed by the nonprofit, according to the indictment.

Reports suggest that the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services paid Bobo approximately $11 million for these supposed meals. Nonprofits associated with Missouri DHSS are expected to uphold rigorous management standards and demonstrate fiscal accountability, which includes submitting budgets and annual management plans to the department.

The indictment claims she spent around $4.3 million on personal expenses, including a $1 million home for herself and relatives, along with a $2.2 million commercial real estate investment.

The indictment also claims Bobo submitted false management plans, falsely claimed that three people were serving on the New Heights board and forged an invoice from a food vendor to falsely claim that New Heights had purchased hundreds of gallons of milk.

Bobo has a sentencing hearing scheduled for Jan. 29, 2026. The wire fraud and obstruction charges each carry a penalty of up to 20 years in prison and $250,000 in fines. The aggravated identity theft charge carries a penalty of up to two years in prison, consecutive with other charges.