Federal agents raided more than 20 locations in Minneapolis on Tuesday, executing 22 federal search warrants as part of a sweeping fraud investigation centered on childcare businesses that allegedly billed the state for services never provided.
The Department of Justice confirmed the operation to Fox News Tuesday morning.
“Today the FBI with federal, state and local law enforcement is involved in court-authorized law enforcement activity as part of an ongoing fraud investigation,” a DOJ spokesperson said.
The raids targeted largely Somali-owned businesses, including childcare facilities that registered as daycares with the state of Minnesota but were allegedly collecting payments for child care that never took place.
Two of the locations hit Tuesday were the Quality Learning Center and Baby Halimo Child Care, both in Minneapolis. The Quality Learning Center had previously drawn national attention after YouTube journalist Nick Shirley visited multiple childcare addresses listed in state records, finding vacant storefronts, shuttered businesses, and in some cases occupants who refused to answer questions when Shirley made mock attempts to “register” a child for care.
Authorities confirmed the investigation is not immigration-related. The warrants are part of an ongoing federal fraud inquiry.
The Tuesday raids are the latest development in what has become one of the largest fraud cases in Minnesota history. Multiple members of a single family connected to the scheme have already entered guilty pleas. A sixth family member who met with Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison is reportedly set to plead guilty as well.
Investigators have been tracking allegations that childcare operators registered facilities with the state, obtained access to federal and state subsidy programs, and then submitted fraudulent billing for children who were not in their care.
