A Minnesota daycare owner who was at the center of a viral video has pleaded guilty to two counts of fraud.
Fahima Mahamud pleaded guilty to a single count of wire fraud and a count of conspiracy to defraud the United States. The charges said she took in $850,000 fraudulently as part of a Feeding Our Future scheme. Its founder and executive director, Aimee Bock, has been sentenced to 500 months in prison. She has appealed both her sentence and conviction, according to CBS News.
Per the charges, Mahamud also separately filed $4.6 million in claims through the Child Care Assistance Program.
Per CBS News, “Dozens of others have been convicted in connection with what prosecutors have called the largest pandemic fraud case in the country.”
Federal prosecutors also alleged that Mahamud tried to flee the U.S. after notifying Minnesota that she had closed the daycare.
A viral video
A viral YouTube investigation by Utah-based YouTuber Nick Shirley alleged millions in taxpayer-funded fraud. As Deseret News reported, in the video, he went door-to-door at taxpayer-funded daycares, “asking adults if any children were present and what they thought about the allegations of fraud.” The video quickly became one of the most viewed videos on X, seen more than 131 million times, according to NPR.
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