Politics
Somali Daycare Scandal Takes Stunning Turn After Damning 2015 Video Resurfaces
The daycare fraud scandal rocking Minnesota stretches back at least a decade, with resurfaced footage from 2015 showing what authorities say was a brazen scheme in which parents pretended to drop off children at sham childcare centers to trigger taxpayer-funded reimbursements.
The old video has regained attention as FBI Director Kash Patel announced a renewed crackdown on alleged abuse of federal programs, including one Minnesota daycare accused of stealing roughly $4 million in public funds. The footage, filmed in March 2015 in Hennepin County, appears to show parents briefly escorting children into a facility before immediately leaving — a routine prosecutors later said was staged solely to collect government money.
When the case was eventually prosecuted by county authorities, investigators concluded that providers billed the state for childcare services that were never delivered. In some cases, centers claimed reimbursement even on days when parents didn’t bother to stage fake drop-offs at all, Fox News reported. A local Fox station also aired footage allegedly showing kickback payments tied to the scheme.
At least four daycare centers were implicated, with authorities estimating roughly $1 million was siphoned from government programs. Four people were arrested. Abdirizak Ahmed Gayre and Ibrahim Awgab Osman pleaded guilty to felony theft by swindling under plea agreements, according to Fox9. Other charges were dismissed, and prosecutors agreed not to pursue additional defendants.
“ They were billing too much, they went up too high. It’s hard to imagine they were serving that many people,” then–Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman said at the time. “Frankly if you’re going to cheat, cheat little, because if you cheat big you’re going to get caught.”
FLASHBACK: 2015 Report from Minnesota shows parents pretending to drop their kids off at fraudulent Somali daycare centers and appearing to receive kickbacks for their role in the scheme.
There is no way Tim Walz didn’t know…
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Whether the earlier cases are directly connected to the current wave of alleged fraud remains unclear. But the resurfaced footage has fueled outrage as Minnesota grapples with a string of massive public corruption cases, including the COVID-era Feeding Our Future scandal.
At least 78 people, most of them Somali, have been charged in that case, which prosecutors say involved fake meal sites billing for food that never existed while funneling taxpayer dollars into luxury homes, cars, jewelry and overseas real estate.
In a lengthy post on X, Patel said the FBI has long been aware of fraud allegations in Minnesota and warned that recent discoveries are only “the tip of a very large iceberg.”
“ Fraud that steals from taxpayers and robs vulnerable children will remain a top FBI priority in Minnesota and nationwide,” Patel wrote.
His comments followed viral footage shared by independent journalist Nick Shirley showing an apparently empty daycare with a misspelled sign reading “Quality Learing Center,” despite reports it had received millions in public funds. Locals told reporters they believed the facility had been “permanently closed” because they never saw children there.
“ We’ve never seen kids go in there until today. That parking lot is empty all the time,” one nearby resident said.
The daycare’s owner’s son, Ibrahim Ali, dismissed the criticism, saying the facility simply hadn’t opened yet when filming occurred. “Do you go to a coffee shop at 11 p.m. and say, ‘Hey, they’re not working?’” he said.
Kash Patel said the FBI has already surged personnel and investigative resources into Minnesota, citing the bureau’s takedown of a $250 million fraud network tied to Feeding Our Future.
“ The investigation exposed sham vendors, shell companies and large-scale money laundering,” Patel said. “The case led to 78 indictments and 57 convictions.”
He added that some defendants attempted to bribe a juror with $120,000 and were later sentenced to prison and ordered to pay nearly $48 million in restitution. Patel said referrals to immigration officials for possible denaturalization and deportation are also underway where applicable.
The renewed scrutiny has drawn national attention. President Donald Trump blasted Gov. Tim Walz for allowing Minnesota to become “a hub of fraudulent money laundering activity,” while Vice President JD Vance called the situation “a microcosm of the immigration fraud in our system.”
Minnesota officials insist action is being taken. A spokesman for Walz said the governor has strengthened oversight, launched investigations, shut down high-risk programs and backed criminal prosecutions.
Still, critics say the decade-old footage raises an uncomfortable question: how so much fraud was allowed to flourish for so long — and how many more schemes may still be waiting to be uncovered.
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