Nick Shirley's video tour of 10 Somali daycare sites in the Twin Cities has drawn attention yet again to the massive public programs fraud committed by an almost exclusive cast of Somali Minnesotans. Shirley may have made some mistakes, but he seems to be on to something.
Shirley's video raises an alarm about the administration of the Child Care Assistance Program by Minnesota's Department of Human Services. In 2019, a devastating report by Minnesota's nonpartisan Office of Legislative Auditor investigated a whistleblower's claim that the program was riddled with fraud to the tune of $100 million. Legislative Auditor James Nobles limited his findings of fraud to amounts established in criminal convictions—$5 to $6 million at the time. However, Nobles called out the program for lax oversight and laughably inadequate controls. As he stated in a column last week, the department’s permissive approach "made it easy for fraudsters to steal."
Local Twin Cities reporters have documented the daycare problem in stories before and after the 2019 report. A year ago Jay Kolls of KSTP EyeWitness News visited 2 of the 10 sites Shirley visited and revealed an inspector general's report concluding that, between 2019 and 2023, one of the sites featured in Shirley's video (the now-famous "Quality Learing Center") was guilty of 95 violations, including "no records for 16 children" and "failure to keep hazardous items away from children." Like Shirley, Kolls found no children at the daycare center. Nonetheless, taxpayer funds continued to flow. Going back more than 10 years, Fox 9 reporter Jeff Baillon reported on daycare frauds in 2013 and 2015.
The many, many people just learning about the brazen thefts perpetrated from federally funded Minnesota programs—mostly, those lucky enough not to live here—are justifiably outraged by the latest round of reporting and wondering what can be done about what prosecutors have described as "industrial-scale fraud."
Federal authorities are keenly aware of the problem, are pursuing cases, and are overwhelmed by the volume of fraud. They literally don't have enough manpower to tackle it all. Concerned citizens should demand that prosecutors be added to the team working out of the office of the United States Attorney for Minnesota. The chant should be to send reinforcements.
At a press conference in September, First Assistant U.S. Attorney Joe Thompson all but shouted his takeaway from the rooftop: Minnesota is drowning in fraud—fraud in Medicaid programs designed and administered by the state of Minnesota—and, I would add, under the noses of Governor Tim Walz and Attorney General Keith Ellison. "I want to be clear on the scope of the crisis," he said. "What we see are schemes stacked upon schemes, draining resources meant for those in need. It feels never-ending. I have spent my career as a fraud prosecutor and the depth of the fraud in Minnesota takes my breath away."
To his point—"schemes stacked upon schemes"—a pair of Minnesota Star Tribune reporters went out to fact-check Shirley's video. They found that 5 of the 10 daycare businesses he visited operated as meal sites sponsored by Feeding Our Future, and those 5 businesses received nearly $5 million in payments between 2018 and 2021, "according to trial evidence."
I take it that would be the government exhibit summarizing payments for fraudulent meals that was introduced into evidence at the second Feeding Our Future trial (Government Exhibit X-1)—government evidence in the case that convicted Feeding Our Future executive director Aimee Bock of fraud, conspiracy, and public programs bribery. The exhibit documented $240 million in claims by the Feeding Our Future sites.
Thompson has been making the point for a while. He is doing everything that can be done with a small team of five prosecutors (including Thompson himself), but he has sought to make it clear that the fraud involved is staggering. He needs to have more prosecutors on his team.
On Dec. 18, Thompson called what turned out to be a particularly intense press conference. He announced charges against six more defendants in cases arising from fraud on Minnesota's "waivered" Medicaid programs. He warned that there were more cases coming while his team continues to investigate frauds that he estimates may total half of the $18 billion spent on these programs since 2018. As President Trump rightly puts it, that's BILLIONS.
"Every day we look under a rock and find a new $50 million fraud scheme," Thompson said, noting that fraudsters are now seeking out the state, which has "developed a fraud tourism industry."
In the package of documents supplied to reporters at the briefing, by far the most important was an unsealed search warrant executed on the day of the press conference in one of the cases under investigation. The suspected fraud in this case involved Minnesota's Integrated Community Supports Medicaid program.
The ICS program has seen explosive growth over the five years since it began in 2021. After paying out a total of approximately $4.6 million in 2021, the program has grown to cost more than $170 million in 2024. In all, claims data show that the Medicaid system has paid out more than $400 million for ICS services since 2021. This follows the model of the fraud uncovered so far in Minnesota's waivered Medicaid programs. It also applies, for example, to fraudulent claims related to benefits for autism care. From less than $1 million in 2018, these claims had grown to more than $300 million in 2024.
While galling to watch Shirley's 42-minute video, the potential daycare fraud represented is small potatoes in the context of the rest of the fraud at issue in these programs. Right now, the prosecutors are obviously picking their shots to produce the biggest bang—deterrent effect—for the bucks involved in the cases that remain under investigation.
A more comprehensive approach would be ideal. In short, Joe Thompson needs help. Send reinforcements.
Scott W. Johnson is a retired Minneapolis attorney and contributor to the site Power Line. He is also the father of Free Beacon editor in chief Eliana Johnson.
