Minnesota's massive fraud scandal involving Somali-run daycares keeps getting worse.
Taxpayers watched as billions disappeared into a black hole.
And one Somali daycare got caught in a scheme that left jaws on the floor.
Children magically appeared after Nick Shirley caught them red-handed
Conservative investigator Nick Shirley's bombshell video went viral late last year, racking up over 130 million views.
He caught supposedly operational daycare centers sitting completely empty during business hours despite pulling in millions from taxpayers.
The now-infamous "Quality Learing Center" — they can't even spell "learning" on their own sign — had zero children at a facility licensed for 99 kids that had collected $4 million in government funding.¹
Then the magic happened.
Within 72 hours of Shirley's video exploding online, kids suddenly materialized at these ghost operations.
"We've never seen kids go in there until today," one Minneapolis resident told the New York Post.² "That parking lot is empty all the time, and I was under the impression that place is permanently closed."
But 72 hours after exposure? Packed with children. Bustling with staff. Cars everywhere.
You'd have to be an idiot to think that's coincidence.
State officials rushed to claim inspections found "children present at all sites" and everything operating "as expected."³
Bureaucrats in full panic mode trying to cover their backsides.
The Craigslist ad that said the quiet part out loud
Then the desperation hit peak absurdity.
A Craigslist ad appeared seeking to hire 20 child actors for a Minneapolis daycare — offering $1,500 per day to pose as daycare attendees during state inspections.⁴
Read that again. Child actors. To fake a functioning daycare. During state inspections.
The posting from "Help Us Daycare" blamed "white supremacy" for losing funding and admitted in broken English that "the ENTIRE client base has already found new daycare services."
They're not even hiding it anymore.
"To help hurry this state vetting processes, we are looking to hire 20 child actors for 3 days, while state is present on site," the ad read.⁵
That's $90,000 total to hire fake kids for three days. You know what costs $90,000? Running a real daycare for months. But these fraudsters would rather pay actors than provide real childcare.
Some defenders claimed the post was satire or a troll.
Sure. And the "Quality Learing Center" just happens to be terrible at spelling while collecting $4 million in taxpayer money.
The ad vanished from Craigslist after going viral, but screenshots preserved the evidence.
Whether it was real or someone trolling, it played out in real time — empty facilities suddenly packed with children the second investigators came around. That's the scam.
Tim Walz let $9 billion walk out the door
This daycare scheme is just the beginning.
First Assistant U.S. Attorney Joe Thompson revealed fraud across 14 Medicaid programs could exceed $9 billion since 2018.⁶
Nine. Billion. Dollars.
That's wholesale looting of the federal treasury with Tim Walz standing guard.
The fraud spans nutrition assistance, housing programs, behavioral health services — anywhere vulnerable Americans needed help, scammers saw dollar signs.
The notorious Feeding Our Future scandal alone involved $250 million stolen from pandemic food programs, with 98 people charged — 85 of Somali descent.⁷
Attorney General Pam Bondi announced 60 convictions so far with more prosecutions coming.
Some of the stolen money got wired overseas to China and Somalia. Treasury Department investigators are trying to trace whether any funds reached the terrorist group al-Shabaab.
But former U.S. Attorney Andy Luger admitted most money went to "luxury items for themselves" — cars, property, lavish travel on the taxpayer dime.⁸
These people stole food money meant for hungry kids and bought themselves Maseratis.
Governor Tim Walz presided over this catastrophe for years while ignoring repeated warnings.
The fraud was so obvious a YouTuber with a camera exposed it in 42 minutes.
But Walz did nothing.
He threw in the towel, announcing he's dropping his reelection campaign as federal investigators closed in.
Too little, too late.
Trump Administration moves in to clean up the mess
President Trump's team responded the way adults handle corruption.
FBI Director Kash Patel "surged" investigative resources to Minnesota. Homeland Security agents went door-to-door at suspected fraud sites. HHS froze all federal childcare payments to the state — $185 million annually — until Minnesota proves it can stop hemorrhaging taxpayer money.⁹
That's how you handle fraud. You cut off the money and send in the investigators.
Minnesota's fraud crisis is a perfect case study in what happens when Democrats care more about appearing tolerant than protecting taxpayers.
Walz and state bureaucrats looked the other way because the fraud primarily involved Minnesota's Somali community. Calling it out meant risking accusations of "racism."
So they let $9 billion vanish rather than face the woke mob.
That cowardice cost taxpayers nearly ten billion dollars.
The empty daycares suddenly filled with children proves these operations knew exactly what they were doing all along. They had contingency plans ready — truck in kids when inspectors show up, keep cashing checks when they leave.
It took an independent journalist with a camera to expose what Minnesota officials refused to investigate for years.
And now the bill is coming due.
¹ Nick Shirley, "Uncovering Fraud in Minnesota's Daycare System," YouTube, December 27, 2025.
² Alana Mastrangelo, "Minnesota's Quality 'Learing' Center 'Bustling' with Children After Video," Breitbart, December 30, 2025.
³ Minnesota Department of Children, Youth, and Families, "Statement on Child Care Center Investigations," January 3, 2026.
⁴ "Daycare hiring child actors for 3 day contract," Craigslist Minneapolis, January 3, 2026 (archived).
⁵ Ibid.
⁶ CBS News, "Everything we know about Minnesota's massive fraud schemes," January 5, 2026.
⁷ Attorney General Pam Bondi, X post, December 30, 2025.
⁸ CBS News Minnesota, "Director of Minnesota day care featured in YouTube video responds," December 31, 2025.
⁹ HHS Deputy Secretary Jim O'Neill, X post announcing funding freeze, December 30, 2025.
