NEW: Top Minnesota Official’s Cover Story For Somali Daycare Fraud Falls Apart

Minnesota officials scrambled Monday to contain fallout from a viral video raising fraud concerns at state-funded daycare centers, but their own explanations only deepened questions about whether taxpayer money is being misspent.

The controversy centers on a video posted by independent journalist Nick Shirley showing visits to several Minnesota childcare facilities that appeared inactive despite receiving state assistance. One of the locations featured was Quality “Learing” Center in Minneapolis, a facility reportedly approved for 99 children and paid roughly $4 million in public funds. The Somalis operating the “daycare” could not spell “learning” correctly on their sign.

At a news conference, Minnesota Department of Children, Youth and Families Commissioner Tikki Brown insisted earlier inspections had not uncovered fraud, even as she offered conflicting explanations about the center’s operations.

“We are aware of a video that’s being circulated that has gained local and national attention about childcare centers in Minnesota,” Brown said. “While we have questions about some of the methods that were used in the video, we do take the concerns that the video raises about fraud very seriously.”

Brown said each facility highlighted in the video had been inspected at least once in the past six months as part of the state’s licensing process, including annual visits conducted without advance notice.

She claimed inspectors previously found children present and said those reviews did not flag fraud.

“None of those investigations uncovered findings of fraud,” Brown said, adding that payments to the centers named in the video have not been paused.

But Brown also acknowledged uncertainty over when Shirley filmed the facilities and whether the footage was captured during operating hours. During the briefing, she further suggested the Quality “Learing” Center had been shut down recently due to space issues, a claim that quickly unraveled.

Children were later bused into the facility after the video went viral, raising questions about whether the activity was staged to blunt criticism rather than reflect normal operations.

The manager of Quality “Learing” Center forcefully rejected allegations of fraud and flatly denied that the facility had closed at any point.

NEW: MN Department of Children commissioner Tikki Brown claims the Quality Learing Center closed down last week, which explains why there were no children when Nick Shirley visited.

Today, however, the Quality Learing Center was packed with kids.

The New York Post reports the… pic.twitter.com/P11ooZNkLI

— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) December 30, 2025

WATCH: ‘Quality Learing Center’ Employee Snaps At Reporter After Viral Minnesota Fraud Report

“There’s no fraud going on whatsoever,” said Ibrahim Ali, the center’s manager. “Kids come to us, clients come to us, their parents come to us – they’re here daily, they leave on time, they come on time. There is no fraud going on whatsoever.”

Ali said the center operates Monday through Thursday from 2 p.m. to 10 p.m., primarily serving after-school children, and has been open for more than eight years.

He also disputed the state’s claim that the center had shut down.

“We haven’t closed. We’ve never closed,” Ali said. “There was never a time where kids were told to stop coming. There was never a time we told our employees to stop coming. All that is false information.”

Ali said the public scrutiny has damaged the business and unfairly targeted the Somali community, arguing that allegations were amplified without evidence.

“Are you trying to record that we’re doing fraud or are you trying to put the Somali name and the fraud in the same sentence?” Ali said. “That’s what really hurt us the last couple of days.”

State officials said additional site visits are underway and emphasized that any credible evidence of fraud would be investigated. Ali said media and inspectors are welcome to visit during operating hours.

The dispute stems from Shirley’s 42-minute video posted Friday on X and YouTube, which documents visits to multiple Minnesota daycare facilities, including a location on Nicollet Avenue in Minneapolis.

In the footage, Shirley and another man appear outside what looks like a largely inactive childcare center. The building displays a misspelled sign reading “Quality Learing Center,” despite being approved for dozens of children and millions in taxpayer funding.

During a Sunday appearance on Fox News’ “The Big Weekend Show,” Shirley said the alleged fraud in Minnesota was “so obvious” that a “kindergartner could figure out that there is fraud going on.”

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