Criminal investigators for the FBI raided a fraudulently operating Minnesota childcare center more than a decade ago after it was discovered the owners had billed the state for multiple hours never worked, children not actually served, and days when the facility was closed.

The facility was the Salama Child Care Center, which was subsequently shut down by state officials. Coincidentally, the Salama facility was located at the exact same address as the now-infamous “Quality Learing Center,” (note the missing “n”) which got at least $1.9 million from Minnesota officials before independent journalist Nick Shirley exposed it and many others in the state as serving few if any children.

Senator Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) points to the shared address and the nearly 11 years that elapsed between the FBI raid and the Shirley expose as evidence of just how unfathomably deeply corruption infects Minnesota social welfare officials mis-management of billions of dollars in federal assistance intended to help needy children and adults.

“Nevertheless, the Minnesota Department of Children, Youth, and Families continues to claim the child care centers in question are ‘operating as expected.’ Apparently, stealing from taxpayers and defrauding children’s assistance programs is ‘operating as expected’ in Tim Walz’s Minnesota,” Ernst said in a January 29 statement.

The Iowa Republican, who is not seeking re-election in November, pointed to another illustration of entrenched corruption in Minnesota state government.

“In fact, the largest COVID-19 fraud scheme in the nation occurred in Minnesota, using the exact same formula as the ‘Quality Learing Center.’ An astounding $250 million intended to feed hungry children was stolen by cooking the books to inflate the number of meals served and fabricating the names of fake children. Rather than feeding kids, the money paid for luxury vehicles, international travel, and real estate, including a beach property in Kenya and another on Turkey’s Mediterranean coast. Showing no remorse, the fraudsters actually attempted to bribe a member of the jury in their criminal trial,” Ernst exclaimed.

David Hoch, Shirley’s partner in the Minnesota expose, told Fox News’s Kayleigh McEnany Saturday that he believes the total amount of corruption in the state is in the range of $80 billion to as high as $100 billion. Shirley has also told Congress that he believes corruption in California could reach $24 billion and that such waste and fraud is endemic across the nation.

Federal investigative resources from the FBI and Department of Justice (DOJ) have been increased in the Minnesota fraud front and the state’s Democratic Governor Tim Walz and Attorney General Keith Ellison are scheduled to testify before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform on March 4. Hoch will also appear before that panel.

To prevent recurrence of such waste, fraud, and corruption, Ernst is introducing a new bill — the “Put an N to Learing About Fraud Act” — in the Senate that would mandate adoption by state social welfare program administrators of five key procedural reforms. The five include:

• Require that payments to child care centers are based on attendance, not just enrollment;
• Distribute reimbursements after a service has been provided instead of in advance;
• Create transparency by requiring that attendance records be auditable;
• Establish an automatic alert-and-review system when billing for services spikes;
• Identify and recover all improper payments — whether these tax dollars were ripped off by fraudsters or made in error.

Ernst awarded Walz her latest Squeal Award — a regular citation given by the GOP senator to individuals and groups involved in waste, fraud, and abuse of federal funds — for “allowing scammers to take food from the mouths of children and rip off taxpayers.”