A Minnesota daycare facility exposed as part of an alleged state fraud scheme reportedly was busy with children Monday after previously being a "ghost town."
The once-quiet location — with a glaring typo on its "Quality Learing Center" sign — suddenly appeared "bustling," with a busy parking lot and roughly 20 children streaming in and out, the New York Post reported.
That scene was a dramatic contrast to what a nearby resident described as the facility's typical "ghost town" status.
"We've never seen kids go in there until today," the local told the Post, adding they believed it was "permanently closed."
The daycare center has become the latest flashpoint in an alleged long-running scandal of government programs being looted with little accountability.
The center was thrust into the national spotlight after independent journalist and conservative YouTuber Nick Shirley posted a viral video that appeared to show the facility largely empty and inactive, despite claims it was tied to nearly 100 children and millions in taxpayer-funded reimbursements.
Shirley's video, which drew millions of views and widespread conservative outrage, showed what appeared to be a dark, inactive building.
At one point, he confronted a person who answered the door: "There's supposed to be 99 children here ... and there's no one here?"
The facility lists operating hours of Monday through Thursday, 2 p.m. to 10 p.m., and the manager insisted Shirley arrived before opening time.
The owner's son and location manager, Ibrahim Ali, attempted to explain away the now-infamous misspelling on the sign, blaming a graphic designer and saying it would be fixed, the Post reported.
But when questioned by reporters, staff reactions reportedly grew hostile, with one employee shouting at a journalist to leave the area.
While the Quality Learning Center has not been publicly named as a target of federal charges, the controversy has intensified attention on Minnesota's broader fraud crisis, including allegations that taxpayers have been fleeced through a sprawling network of bogus social-service providers.
Gov. Tim Walz's administration has moved into damage-control mode as the video reignited public fury over what critics call systemic failures under one-party Democrat control.
Walz's team insists it has strengthened oversight and pushed audits, investigations, and criminal prosecutions.
But conservatives argue that after years of warnings, these steps are coming only after viral exposure made the issue impossible to ignore.
Federal scrutiny is now accelerating.
Homeland Security and the FBI have expanded investigations into suspected fraud schemes tied to taxpayer-funded programs following the massive "Feeding Our Future" scandal — described by prosecutors as the largest COVID-era fraud scheme in Minnesota, with dozens convicted and more charged.
Investigators estimate that as much as half of certain federal funding streams flowing into Minnesota programs may have been misappropriated — a staggering figure that has fueled calls for major reform.
Meanwhile, DailyMail.com spotlighted resurfaced video from a decade ago showing parents allegedly faking daycare drop-offs — an earlier case that revealed how providers could claim reimbursements for services never delivered.
The report underscores a key argument: this isn't new, and Minnesota's political leadership has repeatedly failed to shut down the pipeline.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
Charlie McCarthy ✉
Charlie McCarthy, a writer/editor at Newsmax, has nearly 40 years of experience covering news, sports, and politics.
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