Daycare owner charged with fraud tried to flee U.S. after closing center, prosecutors say

Local News Minneapolis daycare owner charged with fraud tried to flee country days after closing center, prosecutors allege By WCCO Staff, Jonah Kaplan Jonah Kaplan Investigative Reporter Jonah Kaplan is an award-winning correspondent and investigative journalist who has built a strong reputation for his balanced reporting, thoughtful interviews, and deeply researched coverage of high-impact issues affecting the communities across the country. Based in Minneapolis, his work appears on all of CBS News' programs and platforms, including the CBS Evening News, CBS Mornings and CBS 24/7. Read Full Bio Jonah Kaplan Updated on: May 21, 2026 / 12:22 AM EDT / CBS Minnesota Add CBS News on Google Federal fraud charges were unsealed Wednesday against a Minnesota daycare owner who prosecutors allege tried to flee the country just two days after shutting the daycare center down. Federal prosecutors said Future Leaders Early Learning — a site sponsored by Feeding Our Future — pretended to feed children during the pandemic, but pocketed much of the money instead.Fahima Mahamud, the daycare's owner, was charged with one count each of wire fraud and conspiracy to defraud the United States through Minnesota's Child Care Assistance Program, or CCAP, according to a federal indictment unsealed Wednesday. Mahamud is currently under house arrest.  She is accused of stealing taxpayer money that was meant to help families feed their children. Prosecutors allege her center at one point was claiming to serve 60,000 children monthly and falsifying invoices to justify reimbursement. Fahima Mahamud U.S. Attorney's Office Between January and July of 2021, her daycare center received more than $850,000 in Federal Child Nutrition Program funds directly from Feeding Our Future — a nonprofit group that is at the center of what federal authorities have called a $250 million fraud scandal — but only a fraction was used to purchase food, according to an indictment obtai...