The Department of Justice says that the FBI is carrying out a series of search warrants in Minnesota as part of an ongoing fraud investigation.
A Justice Department spokesperson said the FBI was working with federal, state and local law enforcement on Tuesday morning.
Federal agents searched several metro child care and autism centers as a growing fraud investigation focuses on taxpayer money tied to care programs.
Right after dawn, 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS crews saw federal agents raiding childcare centers and autism centers across the Twin Cities metro. Investigators removed boxes as part of a sweeping federal investigation into alleged fraud in Minnesota’s social service programs.
The businesses under scrutiny were set up to serve some of the state’s most vulnerable people. The investigation includes providers like Quality Learning Center, a shuttered daycare featured in a viral YouTube video late last year.
5 EYEWITNESS NEWS first reported on Quality Learning Center in early 2025, after finding state records that revealed 95 licensing violations from 2019 to 2023. At the time of the reporting, Quality Learning Center had received nearly $8 million in reimbursements from the Child Care Assistance Program.
According to a law enforcement source, 22 federal search warrants were executed in Minnesota.
The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) confirmed that its agents were also part of the searches at several businesses across the Twin Cities metro area.
Related stories:
HSI, in cooperation with its federal, state and local law enforcement partners, engaged in court-authorized law enforcement operations in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area. For reasons of operational security and for the safety of our agents, we will not comment further at this time. pic.twitter.com/jAJjEUml1H
— Homeland Security Investigations (@HSI_HQ) April 28, 2026
“Today the FBI with federal, state and local law enforcement is involved in court-authorized law enforcement activity as part of an ongoing fraud investigation,” a Justice Department spokesperson said.
A law enforcement source said this is not an immigration enforcement operation.
Impact of federal raids on families
Later in the afternoon, outside of the Shakopee day care, two families shared conflicting information on whether the center would be open the next day. Efforts to reach the owner after that were unsuccessful.
The Anytime Fitness next door’s owner, Kyle Wheeler, said, given all the attention day cares have received surrounding fraud, he’s had his suspicions.
“It always just kind of felt off,” Wheeler told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS, “I guess the irregularities with the kids coming and going, you might have a long period of time without seeing any.”
“I hope everything is legitimate, and obviously, we don’t want too much chaos going on around here,” Wheeler added, “So, obviously, there’s an investigation going on, and if that all checks out, well, we’ll be happy for everyone involved.”
RELATED: Hundreds of autism centers popped up to meet demand in Minnesota. Now 85 are under investigation.
To avoid missing any updates on this story, download the KSTP app and follow KSTP on social media at the links below.
For Related Stories: Ben Henry FBI Kirsten Swanson Minnesota Search Warrant What The Fraud