Federal prosecutors charged 12 people in Southern California with fraudulently collecting more than $10 million from government-funded childcare programs despite allegedly caring for few or no children at their licensed facilities.
The Department of Justice announced the charges Tuesday after authorities arrested 12 defendants and executed search warrants at a dozen San Diego-area homes purportedly operating as daycare facilities. The individuals are naturalized citizens who hail from Syria, Somalia, Sudan, Afghanistan, and Iraq.
Prosecutors allege the defendants, who are not related, obtained California licenses to operate home childcare facilities and registered with Child Development Associates and the YMCA to obtain subsidies intended to help low-income families pay for daycare.
To receive government-funded payments, providers were required to submit monthly attendance records documenting when children were under their care. Instead, prosecutors said, the defendants submitted false records claiming children were present when surveillance and other evidence showed the facilities had little or no activity.
The 12 cases were separate but followed essentially the same pattern, according to the DOJ. Some defendants allegedly collected payments for months in which they were not even in the country.
In one case, Abdulrahman Ayman Alawad claimed he cared for roughly two dozen children in March and April every day. Surveillance covering 57 days showed children entering or leaving the home on only one day when the state inspector paid an unannounced visit.
Authorities said Alawad and children arrived at the property only after the inspector had arrived. He allegedly received more than $300,000 in childcare payments in 2025.
In total, prosecutors allege the defendants fraudulently obtained more than $10 million intended for low-income families.
Tuesday’s charges mark the latest movement from the DOJ’s National Fraud Enforcement Division headed by Vice President JD Vance. The day prior, Vance announced that 870,000 people will be permanently barred from applying for federal loans over allegations that they previously defrauded the government through the COVID-19 pandemic-era Paycheck Protection Program.
Nearly 80 defendants faced felony charges in cases involving about $100 million in intended losses connected to Small Business Administration pandemic programs. Another 43 defendants pleaded guilty in cases involving approximately $44 million, while about 40 were sentenced in cases representing nearly $100 million in intended losses.
Additionally, the case in Southern California reflects a similar MO to those behind the Feeding Our Future fraud scheme in Minnesota. Three men were sentenced last month to a combined 155 months in prison for submitting false meal claims in the $250 million scheme.