From the Daily Caller News Foundation

By Harold Hutchison

A resurfaced 2018 video from a Minneapolis-area TV station shows how Somali scammers allegedly bilked Minnesota out of millions of dollars for services that they never provided.

Independent journalist Nick Shirley touched off a storm on social media Friday after he posted a photo of one day-care center, which displayed a banner calling it “The Greater Learing Center” on X, along with a 42-minute video that went viral showing him visiting that and other day-care centers. The surveillance video, which aired on Fox 9 in 2018 after being taken in 2015, showed parents taking kids into the center, then leaving with them minutes later, according to Fox News.

“They were billing too much, they went up to high,” Hennepin County attorney Mike Freeman told Fox 9 in 2018. “It’s hard to imagine they were serving that many people. Frankly if you’re going to cheat, cheat little, because if you cheat big, you’re going to get caught.”

Democratic Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota was accused of engaging in “systemic” retaliation against whistleblowers in a Nov. 30 statement by state employees. Assistant United States Attorney Joe Thompson announced on Dec. 18 that the amount of suspected fraud in Minnesota’s Medicaid program had reached over $9 billion.

After Shirley’s video went viral, FBI Director Kash Patel announced the agency was already sending additional resources in a Sunday post on X, citing the case surrounding Feeding Our Future, which at one point accused the Minnesota government of racism during litigation over the suspension of funds after earlier allegations of fraud.

KSTP reported that the Quality Learning Center, one of the centers visited by Shirley, had 95 citations for violations from one Minnesota agency between 2019 to 2023.

President Donald Trump announced in a Nov. 21 post on Truth Social that he would end “Temporary Protected Status” for Somalis in the state in response to allegations of welfare fraud and said that the influx of refugees had “destroyed our country.”

MxM News

A Minneapolis day care that went viral last week as a symbol of alleged state-funded fraud suddenly appeared busy on Monday — a sharp departure from what neighbors say is its usual state of near-total inactivity.

The Quality “Learing” Center Minneapolis, flagged in a widely shared video by YouTuber Nick Shirley, had cars filling its parking lot and roughly 20 children coming and going as reporters observed the site. But a nearby resident said the scene was anything but normal.

“We’ve never seen kids go in there until today,” the local resident told the New York Post, describing the center as typically so quiet it appeared permanently closed. “That parking lot is empty all the time. I honestly thought the place was shut down.”

NEW: The Quality Learing Center in Minneapolis is now "trucking" in children after Nick Shirley's viral video, according to the New York Post.

The Post reports that the parking lot at the infamous Quality Learing Center is now "bustling with kids."

"We’ve never seen kids go… pic.twitter.com/K578UTvLXG

— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) December 30, 2025

The sudden activity stood in contrast to Shirley’s footage, posted Friday, which showed what appeared to be a dormant facility. In the clip, Shirley confronts a man at the door, pointing out that the center is reportedly approved for nearly 100 children but appeared completely empty at the time. No children were visible during his visit.

The center lists its operating hours as Monday through Thursday from 2 p.m. to 10 p.m. Ibrahim Ali, 26, who identified himself as the manager and said he is the owner’s son, told reporters Monday that Shirley arrived before the center opened. He dismissed the video as misleading.

“You don’t go to a coffee shop at 11 p.m. and say, ‘They’re not working,’” Ali said, arguing the timing explained the empty building. He claimed around 16 children were inside later that afternoon.

Ali also addressed the misspelled word “Learing” on the facility’s exterior sign — a detail that fueled online skepticism — blaming it on a graphic designer. He said the error would be corrected and downplayed its significance, though it was unclear how long the sign had been displayed.

While Quality Learning has not been publicly identified by federal authorities as a target, the center has drawn scrutiny amid a sprawling investigation into what officials say could be a multibillion-dollar fraud scheme involving government-funded programs meant to serve vulnerable populations. Estimates have put the alleged fraud as high as $9 billion, with businesses accused of billing the state for services never rendered.

When asked about the accusations, a woman opening the center at 2 p.m. Monday forcefully denied any wrongdoing. “We don’t have fraud. That’s a lie,” she said before refusing further comment and saying she wanted to speak with an attorney. Another employee became confrontational with reporters outside the building, recording on his phone and demanding they leave the area.

Elsewhere in Minneapolis, ICE agents visited ABC Learning Center, several miles from Quality Learning, requesting attendance records as part of the broader probe. Ahmed Hasan, the center’s director, said agents asked for two months of documentation to verify compliance.

Hasan said the heightened scrutiny has created fear within the local community, particularly among Somali immigrants, who he said feel unfairly targeted. He recalled a recent visit from Shirley’s team that initially caused panic among staff, who believed masked individuals at the door might be federal agents.

“That time ICE was coming for the Somali community. We were scared to open the door,” Hasan said, adding that the allegations surrounding day care fraud have become “a political game.”

As investigators continue digging into the alleged misuse of taxpayer dollars, the sudden appearance of children at a center long described as empty has only intensified questions — and skepticism — surrounding Minnesota’s oversight of publicly funded child care programs.