Federal prosecutors unsealed fraud charges Wednesday against Fahima Mahamud, the owner of Future Leaders Early Learning in Minneapolis, alleging she tried to leave the country two days after closing her daycare.
Mahamud was indicted on one count of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States through Minnesota’s Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP). She is currently under house arrest. Prosecutors say Mahamud stole taxpayer funds intended to help families feed children during the COVID era.
According to the indictment, Future Leaders Early Learning — a site sponsored by the nonprofit Feeding Our Future, which federal authorities say is at the center of a broader alleged $250 million fraud scheme — received more than $850,000 in Federal Child Nutrition Program funds from Feeding Our Future between January and July 2021. The complaint alleges only a fraction of that money was actually spent on food.
Court documents say that in 2020 and 2021 Mahamud submitted receipts claiming to serve two meals a day to 1,000 different children, seven days a week. From 2022 to 2025, she allegedly submitted roughly 13,000 CCAP claims totaling about $4.6 million on behalf of recipients from whom required co-payments were not collected.
Investigators also note administrative problems at the center: state licensing inspectors visited in November 2025 and issued a citation for unsanitary conditions and missing immunization records in children’s files. The center was one of 10 Minneapolis daycares visited in December by conservative YouTuber Nick Shirley and featured in a viral video.
Prosecutors say Mahamud notified the state in February that Future Leaders Early Learning was closing, and on the same day she booked a flight to London. Authorities allege she attempted to flee the country shortly afterward.
In April, federal agents executed raids at least 20 Minnesota daycares and autism centers as part of the wider investigation; it was not immediately clear whether Mahamud’s center was among them. So far, nearly 100 people have been charged in connection with the Feeding Our Future investigation.
The Justice Department announced it will hold a news conference Thursday to detail a “major law enforcement action involving fraud” in Minnesota, and said several senior officials would participate. All allegations in the indictment are pending proof in court.