MINNEAPOLIS — The first defendants since daycare fraud became a highly talked-about issue in Minnesota have pleaded guilty. That includes the woman who received more taxpayer money than any other childcare provider in 2025.
Fahima Mahamud was arrested in February after she closed down her daycare and, that same day, booked a flight to London.
The 50-year-old ran Future Leaders Early Learning Center since 2015. That daycare received $3.7 million in childcare assistance program money last year, more than any other daycare in the state.
Mahamud pleaded guilty Thursday to $4.6 million worth of daycare fraud and Feeding Our Future meal program fraud for another $850,000.
The government did not accuse her of inflating attendance numbers. Instead, she admitted that she didn't collect the required copay amounts from the families she enrolled, which presumably would be a way to ensure families stay enrolled for free daycare while she collected the taxpayer money. It's the government's position that all the taxpayer money she received from using these families, $4.6 million, must be paid back.
Also on Thursday, 43-year-old Jillaine Mertens pleaded guilty to daycare fraud, stealing $426,000. Both Mahamud and Mertens will be sentenced at a later date.
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