<p>Federal prosecutors charged 12 individuals in Southern California with fraudulently collecting over $10 million from government-funded childcare programs while allegedly caring for few or no children at their licensed facilities.</p>
<p>The Department of Justice announced the charges on September 15, 2026, after authorities arrested the defendants and executed search warrants at a dozen homes in the San Diego area that were purportedly operating as daycare facilities. The individuals are naturalized citizens from Syria, Somalia, Sudan, Afghanistan, and Iraq.</p>
<p>Prosecutors allege that the defendants obtained California licenses to operate home childcare facilities and registered with Child Development Associates and the YMCA to receive subsidies intended to assist low-income families with daycare costs.</p>
<p>To qualify for government-funded payments, providers were required to submit monthly attendance records documenting when children were under their care. However, prosecutors stated that the defendants submitted false records claiming children were present, despite evidence from surveillance showing little or no activity at the facilities.</p>
<p>The 12 cases followed a similar pattern, according to the DOJ. Some defendants allegedly collected payments for months when they were not even in the country.</p>
<p>In one instance, Abdulrahman Ayman Alawad claimed to care for approximately two dozen children daily in March and April 2025. Surveillance over 57 days indicated that children entered or left the home only once, during an unannounced visit from a state inspector.</p>
<p>Authorities reported that Alawad and children arrived at the property only after the inspector's arrival, and he allegedly received over $300,000 in childcare payments in 2025.</p>
<p>In total, prosecutors allege that the defendants fraudulently obtained more than $10 million intended for low-income families.</p>
<p>These charges represent the latest actions from the DOJ's National Fraud Enforcement Division, led by Vice President JD Vance. The day before, Vance announced that 870,000 individuals would be permanently barred from applying for federal loans due to previous allegations of defrauding the government through the COVID-19 pandemic-era Paycheck Protection Program.</p>
<p>Nearly 80 defendants have faced felony charges in cases involving about $100 million in intended losses related to Small Business Administration pandemic programs. Additionally, 43 defendants have pleaded guilty in cases involving approximately $44 million, while around 40 have been sentenced in cases representing nearly $100 million in intended losses.</p>
<p>The case in Southern California is similar to the Feeding Our Future fraud scheme in Minnesota, where three men were sentenced last month to a combined 155 months in prison for submitting false meal claims in a $250 million scheme.</p>