Independent Journalist Who Uncovered Minnesota Fraud Says ‘A Kindergartner’ Could Figure It Out

Independent journalist Nick Shirley, whose recent viral video pulled back the curtain on tens of millions of dollars in alleged fraud in Minnesota, said the scheme was so obvious that “a kindergartner” could have put the pieces together.

During an appearance on “The Big Weekend Show” on Fox News, Shirley described how he found suspicious daycare and learning centers in the Minneapolis area that appear to be fronts for massive scams. Shirley’s video, which has been reposted over 200,000 times on X, shows him visiting multiple government-funded daycares that seemed to have no children present.

“It’s so obvious,” Shirley said of the apparent fraud. “If you’re living in Minnesota, you have to raise your eyebrows and think, ‘What’s going on?’ Literally, if you drive around Minneapolis, you’ll see daycare centers, autism centers — you will then see transportation companies that have snow piled up as if they haven’t moved it in months,” Shirley said.

“A kindergartner could’ve figured out there was fraud going on,” he added.

In his 42-minute video report, Shirley talks to a Minnesota resident identified only as “David,” who has been investigating the alleged fraud for years. David told Shirley that he first became suspicious when he noticed multiple daycare centers near his office with no children. David said he also noticed that he often saw Somali drivers from non-emergency medical transportation companies driving vans without passengers. He added that he found there are 1,020 non-emergency medical transportation companies in the state, and more than 800 of them are Somali-owned.

Christmas Sale – Get 40% off New DailyWire+ Annual Memberships

Shirley, 23, said the people who supposedly worked at some of the daycare centers “could not answer the most simple questions,” such as where the children were or why their windows were blacked out. In one instance, Shirley and David ask two Somali women outside of a daycare center where the children are, and one of the women replies, “It’s not your business.”

Shirley’s video uncovers numerous examples of suspicious activity in the Minneapolis area shortly after a federal prosecutor said that, during Minnesota Democratic Governor Tim Walz’s tenure, there has been at least $9 billion in fraud in the state. First Assistant U.S. Attorney Joe Thompson revealed earlier this month that 14 Medicaid services in Minnesota are at “high risk” for fraud.

The massive fraud scandal has already resulted in dozens of convictions and has involved many people from Minneapolis’s large Somali community. One accused Somali fraudster was still being paid by the Minnesota government to run assisted living homes, even as he awaited his trial for his alleged role in helping run a fraudulent charity, The Daily Wire reported earlier this month.

Walz and other Minnesota Democratic leaders have defended their actions amid the scandal and voiced support for the Somali community. A spokesman for the Minnesota governor said Walz “has worked for years to crack down on fraud and ask the state legislature for more authority to take aggressive action. He has strengthened oversight — including launching investigations into these specific facilities, one of which was already closed.”

RELATED: Shocking Video Exposes More Apparent Somali-Linked Fraud In Walz’s Minnesota