BLUF (Bottom Line Up Front)
A YouTuber with a camera exposed what Minnesota officials ignored for years. Nick Shirley's viral video showed licensed daycare centers receiving millions in taxpayer funds appearing empty. Within days, federal agencies publicly signaled stepped-up investigations. The video didn't discover fraud; it exposed a system that refused to look for it.
A Content Creator Did What the State Wouldn't
In December 2024, YouTuber Nick Shirley grabbed a camera and visited daycares receiving government funding. His findings should concern all taxpayers:
- Future Leaders Early Learning Center: Licensed for 90 children, received $6.67 million over two years. Completely empty when visited.
- Mako and Mini Child Care centers: Licensed for 120 children combined, pulled in $4.6 million over three years. Abandoned.
The video reached 100 million views. VP JD Vance and Elon Musk amplified it. Subsequently, federal agencies flooded Minneapolis.
Federal Response
- Homeland Security indicated active investigators in Minneapolis
- FBI Director Kash Patel called it "the tip of a very large iceberg"
- SBA paused certain funding and scrutinized approximately $400M+ in questioned loans tied to suspected PPP/EIDL fraud
But Wait, The Government Already Knew
Minnesota's Department of Children, Youth, and Families claims these locations "had been inspected within the past 6 months."
Key problems:
- State inspectors allegedly visited clearly empty and abandoned facilities
- Mako Child Care had been "officially closed since 2022" but appeared in state records
- Quality Learning Center's last inspection found 10+ violations including unsafe cribs and poor supervision, yet its license remains active through year-end
"State child care auditors refer an average of 5 cases per year to law enforcement. Five."
This occurs despite billions in claims across thousands of licensed facilities.
House Speaker Lisa Demuth noted that "no one's lost their job...no one has been publicly disciplined in any way."
This Isn't New—It's a Pattern
Feeding Our Future Foundation
The Department of Justice called this the largest pandemic relief fraud in the country: $250 million stolen.
The scheme:
- Created 250+ fake "meal sites"
- Claimed to serve 91-125 million meals
- One site claiming 6,000 daily meals averaged 60 visitors
- Generated fake attendance rosters using "listofrandomnames.com"
- Only 3% of funds went to actual food; remainder funded vacations, Kenyan real estate, luxury jewelry
Timeline:
- July 2019: Minnesota Department of Education saw fraud signs
- December 2020: Labeled organization "severely deficient" and attempted funding cuts
- Organization sued; court ruled state had "no legal basis" to stop payments and fined the state $47,500 for attempting to protect taxpayer money
- January 2022: FBI finally raided locations
- Result: 78 indictments, 57 convictions, only $60-75 million recovered from $250 million
The Full Scope: Billions at Stake
Housing Stabilization Services
- 2020 launch: $2.6 million annual budget
- 2024: $104 million paid in single year
- 4.5-year total: $302 million (vs. expected $12 million)
- Program terminated October 2025 due to widespread fraud
- One operator, Kaamil Omar Sallah: claimed 600 service hours in 2024 (10 hours daily), received $1.3 million, then fled the country after subpoena
Autism Services (EIDBI)
- 2018: 41 providers billing $6 million
- 2024: 328 providers billing $192 million (3,000% increase)
- Federal prosecutors: most were fraudulent, involving fake autism diagnoses to qualify families for services
Other Medicaid Schemes
- One operator ran agency from a mailbox, billed $7.2 million
- Another claimed $1.1 million for 13 clients, one deceased
Federal estimate: $18 billion in potentially fraudulent Medicaid claims since 2018 across 14 high-risk programs. Assistant U.S. Attorney Joe Thompson assessed that "half or more" could be fraudulent—potentially $9 billion from Minnesota alone.
The Political Circus Has Arrived
The situation has become weaponized:
- Republicans call for Governor Walz's resignation, claiming knowledge and inaction
- Democrats accuse Republicans of targeting the Somali community
- Governor Walz blames President Trump
- Critics attack journalist Nick Shirley
Important Context
- Feeding Our Future founder Aimee Bock (white) convicted March 2025 on wire fraud, bribery, conspiracy
- Most defendants are Somali-American; Minneapolis has ~80,000 Somali residents
- Bock operated "like a God," using racial discrimination accusations to silence scrutiny
- Some money traced to Somalia/Kenya, mostly real estate (U.S. Attorney Thompson: "no indication defendants sought to fund terrorist groups")
The Real Villain: The System That Let It Happen
Systemic failures:
- State officials documented warning signs since 2019
- Courts blocked state efforts to stop fraudulent payments
- Fear of discrimination accusations paralyzed oversight
- COVID emergency removed some safeguards
- Legislative auditor found Department of Education "created opportunities for fraud"
- Attorney General Keith Ellison requested enhanced fraud investigation funding; Legislature denied it
- Average 5 fraud referrals annually despite billions in claims
- Zero state officials fired or disciplined
The Bottom Line
Nick Shirley accomplished with a YouTube channel what Minnesota failed to do with millions in oversight funding. These weren't sophisticated hidden schemes—they operated in broad daylight. State "inspections" somehow missed obvious abandonment.
Key takeaway: It took viral video to trigger federal response that state oversight machinery never delivered.
Addendum: The Scramble Has Begun
Since video publication, exposed daycares responded with explanations:
- One operator held press conference claiming facility was operational; another source reported it closed one week prior
- Another alleged robbery and lost employee records—"convenient timing"
