Federal agents again swarmed sections of Minneapolis Tuesday morning. Officials with the U.S. Justice Department say the agents were exercising search warrants at several childcare centers for suspected fraud.
There were no arrests, but it is an indication there is a refocused effort to investigate billion-dollar COVID-era fraud schemes in Minnesota. Reports say the raids happened in at least 22 locations across the Twin Cities.
"Today the FBI with federal, state and local law enforcement is involved in court-authorized law enforcement activity as part of an ongoing fraud investigation," read a statement from the DOJ.
There's no word on the location of the raids, and reports are that these raids are not related to "Operation Metro Surge," the federal government's crackdown on illegal immigrants in Minnesota.
Minnesota U.S. Rep. and House Majority Whip Tom Emmer released a statement saying raids happened at more than "20 locations" in Minneapolis.
"President Trump and his administration have made it crystal clear - our country will not tolerate waste, fraud, and abuse, and we are not going to allow people to take advantage of Americans' generosity. Thank you to the U.S. Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security for taking action against Somali fraudsters. Minnesotans and U.S. taxpayers across the nation are grateful."
CBS News is reporting that nobody was arrested in the raids. At least some of the childcare centers targeted Tuesday appear to have been mentioned in a viral social media video posted in December by Nick Shirley in a YouTube video. Shirley randomly showed up at several Somali-owned daycares and health clinics.
The video included allegations that these centers receive public funds and are not actually providing any service. That prompted the FBI and DHS to ramp up investigations at 30 locations in Minneapolis, even posting some video of interactions at these centers.
Despite the viral nature of the video, and the reaction from the Trump administration, there was word on if any action was taken by the state of federal law enforcement after the video, and there had been no legal action regarding any of these day care centers stemming from those allegations, at least until now.
Since 2021, 92 people have been charged in the schemes, with 67 convicted. That includes five people who pleaded guilty last month for their roles in the Feeding Our Future scandal that exploited a federal nutrition program.
This is a developing story. Stay with KRLD Radio for more.
