Twelve immigrants from Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia, Syria, and Sudan have been charged in San Diego, California, with a more than $10 million fraud scheme that claimed to provide low-income families with home day care while funneling the taxpayer-funded money to themselves.
“Today is a bad day for home daycare fraud,” U.S. Attorney Adam Gordon said during a press conference on Tuesday. “These are the first charges alleging this type of fraud since the formation of the National Fraud Enforcement Division. These fraudsters may have criminally gamed the system before. But today, the game is over.”
RELATED VIDEO — Ilhan Omar: Everything in Minnesota Is Great & Fraud Is Really Inspiring Actually:
The defendants, who include naturalized citizens and green card holders, are:
- Fosiya Mohamoud, 50 years old, from Somalia
- Abdulrahman Alawad, 25 years old, from Syria
- Zetun Abdi, 43 years old, from Somalia
- Ikramullah Mohmmand, 25 years old, from Afghanistan
- Khetam Haouash, 37 years old, from Syria
- Khatera Hashimi, 39 years old, from Afghanistan
- Mariam Khamis, 42 years old, from Sudan
- Mohamad Alawad, 29 years old, from Syria
- Mazin Alawad, 22 years old, from Syria
- Turkiya Alawad, 63 years old, from Syria
- Zaryab Daudzai, 25 years old, from Afghanistan
- Cezar Yaqoob, 36 years old, from Iraq
According to federal prosecutors, the defendants secured California licenses to operate home daycare facilities specifically for low-income families that they never intended to operate. Instead, the defendants allegedly pocketed the taxpayer funds meant for such daycare services.
WATCH — DOJ Anti-Fraud Chief Colin McDonald Says Taxpayer Theft Is Personal:
In one case involving Abdulrahman Alawad, the Syrian immigrant reported to the state that he provided child care to 23 kids in March and 25 kids in April of this year. Federal surveillance found that Alawad only had children in his care on one day of those two months, the day that a state inspector was scheduled to inspect his daycare services.
Turkiya Alawad, in another case, claimed to the state that she had cared for children in January 2024. In actuality, prosecutors allege, Alawad was not even in the United States that month.
Overall, prosecutors say defendants each profited anywhere from $538,000 to $1.2 million from the fraud scheme. Abdulrahman Alawad, for instance, profited more than $300,000 in 2025 from the scheme.
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at jbinder@breitbart.com.