Minnesota Daycare Owner Pleads Guilty to Wire Fraud and Conspiracy

Minnesota daycare owner Fahima Mahamud pleaded guilty on Thursday to wire fraud and conspiracy charges. She admitted scamming the federal Child Care Assistance Program. Prosecutors stated Mahamud stole more than $4.6 million through false claims.

Washington Examiner reported her daycare, Future Leaders Early Learning Center in Minneapolis, also collected some $850,000 from Minnesota’s Feeding Our Future program by falsely claiming to serve tens of thousands of meals each month. Last month Jay Swanson, former manager of fraud investigations at Minnesota’s Department of Human Services, testified before Congress.

He told lawmakers fraudulent childcare centers were opening faster than his department could shut them down.

He declined, stating it would have been illegal. Swanson testified his team received a phone call from a fire department inquiring whether a childcare center was still operating. Washington Examiner reported Minnesota currently has 436 open daycare fraud investigations.