Owner of daycare in viral Nick Shirley video charged in $4.6M daycare fraud scheme, prosecutors say

Fahima Egeh Mahamud, left, is the owner of a daycare that was featured in a viral video by Nick Shirley.On Wednesday, she was charged in another fraud case in Minnesota.(Getty Images;Hennepin County jail)

Earlier this year, Mahamud was indicted for her alleged role in the initial$250 million “Feeding Our Future” scheme.Prosecutors allege she enrolled Future Leaders Early Learning — a Minneapolis daycare where she served as CEO — into the federal child nutrition program, falsely claiming to serve thousands of meals at her childcare center.

In addition to her involvement in thenutrition programfraud, Mahamud was federally charged Wednesday with a secondary scheme to defraud the Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP), which provides daycare assistance to low-income families.

Between October 2022 and December 2025, she allegedly submitted over 13,000fraudulent claimsto CCAP totaling approximately $4.6 million.Prosecutors state the claims were fraudulent because she falsely certified that she had collected mandatory co-payments from families, which is a material requirement for federal reimbursement.

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The Future Leaders Early Learning center was featured in Shirley’s viral video,reported, which showed him visiting apparently empty, Somali-run childcare centers in and around Minneapolis while alleging widespread fraud.

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The video served as a catalyst for an immediate and aggressive multiagency crackdownby the Trumpadministration.

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Following its release, the U.S.Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) froze roughly $185 million in federal childcare funding to Minnesota.

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Additionally, over 2,000 federal agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) were deployed to theTwin Citiesto escalate investigations and enforcement.