A viral video alleging fraud at several Minnesota day-care centers has triggered intensified federal and state scrutiny of how public money is spent. At the same time, officials stress that the claims remain unproven and are under active investigation.
The clash between online allegations and official audits has put Gov. Tim Walz’s administration and the state’s oversight systems under a national spotlight. It comes against the backdrop of a federal prosecutor’s allegation earlier in December that half or more of approximately $18 billion in federal funds allocated to Minnesota since 2018 may have been stolen. Authorities stress that the day-care sites in conservative YouTuber Nick Shirley’s footage are now part of an expanded investigative map. Still, they have not publicly alleged a specific dollar figure of confirmed fraud tied to those particular centers.
Shirley posted a roughly 40‑minute video late last week, documenting visits to nearly a dozen day-care centers in Minnesota that appear largely empty or inactive despite, as Shirley claims, receiving public funds. The video, shared on YouTube and X, has amassed nearly 2 million direct views in three days, as well as tens of millions of impressions across platforms, and has rapidly circulated under hashtags referencing “day-care fraud” and “Somali” centers.
In his narration and social media posts, Shirley alleges that some centers “receive millions of dollars in taxpayer money” while not providing real childcare services, framing the situation as part of a broader fraud problem tied to facilities described as Somali‑run. State and federal authorities have not confirmed that the centers in his video engaged in criminal fraud. Still, the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security have said they are surging resources into Minnesota to investigate suspected fraud involving social service and day-care programs. These efforts predate the video’s release, with a federal jury finding in March 2025 that Minnesota restaurant owners had committed $250 million in fraud by claiming to provide meals to children but instead funding their own lifestyles.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem described current operations in Minnesota as a “massive investigation on childcare and other rampant fraud,” with several media outlets quoting her as saying that agents were “going door to door at suspected fraud sites” featured in the viral footage, although that social media post appears to have since been deleted.
Attorney General Pam Bondi wrote on X that the Justice Department has since “charged 98 individuals—85 of Somali descent—and more than 60 have been found guilty in court” in related Minnesota fraud cases, adding that “we have more prosecutions coming … BUCKLE UP, LAWMAKERS!”
Walz administration and state officials
The office of Gov. Tim Walz, who was Kamala Harris’s running mate as vice president in 2024, has pushed back against broad claims that his administration ignored or enabled widespread fraud, emphasizing steps taken in recent years to tighten oversight. A spokesperson told Fox News that Walz has “spent years working to crack down on fraud” by strengthening state program oversight, initiating investigations into specific facilities, and supporting prosecutions and outside audits.
Minnesota Department of Children, Youth, and Families Commissioner Tikki Brown said officials “do take the concerns that the video raises about fraud very seriously,” while also questioning “some of the methods used in the video.” Brown confirmed that the facilities in question have been under investigation, but said none of the day-care centers featured in the YouTube video have had their payments paused by the state owing to concerns of fraud. Prior probes have not “uncovered evidence of fraud” at those specific centers, she said.
Specific centers and disputed narrative
One location highlighted by Shirley is the “Quality Learing Center” in Minneapolis, where video shows the aforesaid misspelled sign and little apparent activity despite records indicating capacity for 99 children and about $4 million in state payments. State officials told local outlets that the Quality Learning Center and at least one other featured site had recently closed, even as records showed active licenses, and said they are conducting follow‑up checks in light of the video.
The facilities and some community advocates have denied wrongdoing, arguing that short, unannounced visits do not accurately capture enrollment patterns, operating hours, or off‑site programming. Civil‑rights groups and Somali community leaders warn that the political reaction to the video risks stigmatizing Somali Minnesotans as a whole, even as legitimate fraud cases are pursued.
Ibrahim Ali, the center’s manager, told Fox News the video seemed to have been shot during off-hours, with the center open Monday through Thursday from 2 p.m. to 10 p.m. “There is no fraud going on whatsoever,” he said. “Are you trying to record that we’re doing fraud, or are you trying to put the Somali name and the fraud in the same sentence? That’s what really hurt us the last couple of days.” Despite these denials, Commissioner Brown confirmed to reporters on Dec. 29, two days after Shirley’s video release, that Quality Learning Center had in fact been closed for just over a week, with another closing several years ago.
