How a viral video prompted investigations into alleged fraud at day care centers in Minnesota
As Homeland Security agents were in Minnesota conducting what DHS Secretary Kristi Noem called a "massive investigation on childcare and other rampant fraud" on Monday, many of their targets came not from tips from the FBI, but from a video posted on social media over the weekend.
The video, posted by conservative YouTuber Nick Shirley, alleged nearly a dozen day care centers in Minnesota that are receiving public funds are not actually providing any service. As of Monday, the video had been viewed more than 1 million times, according to YouTube's metrics, and was seen by tens of millions more on X.
"While we have questions about some of the methods used in the video, we do take the concerns that the video raises about fraud very seriously," said Minnesota Department of Children, Youth, and Families commissioner Tikki Brown.
In addition to the DHS investigations, state officials also visited some of the sites on Monday. They told CBS News two of the centers featured in the video already shut down earlier this year, although one of those centers informed the state late Monday that it plans to remain open.
CBS News conducted its own analysis of nearly a dozen day care centers mentioned by Shirley: all but two have active licenses, according to state records, and all active locations were visited by state regulators within the last six months. One, Sweet Angel Child Care, Inc., was subject to an unannounced inspection as recently as Dec. 4.
CBS News' review also found dozens of citations related to safety, cleanliness, equipment, and staff training, among other violations, but there was no recorded evidence of fraud.
CBS News visited and called several of the day care centers on Monday but received no responses.
Monday's DHS visits come amid what prosecutors allege is a $9 billion COVID-era fraud scandal in Minnesota. Gov. Tim Walz and other state officials have disputed that figure and defended their handling of the crisis.
There are 14 specific Medicaid-funded programs in Minnesota currently under federal investigation, although child care isn't one of them.
Earlier this month, CBS News detailed how a group of convicted fraudsters allegedly spent some of the millions of taxpayer dollars stolen by people associated with a nonprofit called Feeding Our Future, which was meant to help feed vulnerable children during the pandemic.
Investigators say fraudulent payouts to the Feeding Our Future program alone were estimated at $250 million, making it the nation's costliest COVID-era aid scam.
Walz, a Democrat, previously agreed with an estimate from First Assistant U.S. Attorney Joe Thompson that fraud across all programs, including the Feeding Our Future scheme, which is not a DHS-administered program, could total $1 billion.
"The fraud is not small. It isn't isolated. The magnitude cannot be overstated," Thompson said last week.
So far, 78 people have been arrested in the Feeding Our Future scheme. A majority of them are Somali Americans, although the program's leader, Aimee Bock, who was convicted earlier this year, is not. Minnesota has the nation's largest Somali population.
President Trump has called Minnesota a "hub of fraudulent money laundering activity" and has lashed out against the state's Somali community, announcing last month that he would end protected status against deportation for Somalis in the state. Earlier this month, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement launched Operation Metro Surge in the Twin Cities, leading to more than 400 arrests.