A dozen individuals from Syria, Afghanistan, Sudan, Iraq and Somalia have all been arrested in connection to an alleged daycare fraud scam, accused of funneling more than $10 million in taxpayer-funded childcare subsidies to bogus providers.
More than 250 federal, state and local law enforcement officials descended early Thursday, arresting all 12 defendants and executing 12 search warrants at San Diego homes purportedly being used as daycare facilities.
“Completely bogus daycare facilities,” Attorney General Todd Blanche said.
Federal prosecutors allege the defendants obtained California licenses for home childcare facilities, registered with Child Development Associates and the YMCA, then submitted phony attendance records to collect government payments for children they allegedly never cared for.The paperwork was no small detail.
Providers were required to document the dates and times children were in their care and certify the records under penalty of perjury.
Investigators say surveillance footage told a very different story.
Abdulrahman Ayman Alawad allegedly claimed he provided childcare every day in March and April 2026, reporting 23 children in March and 25 in April.
But surveillance covering 57 days allegedly showed children entering or leaving his facility on just one day — the same day a state inspector arrived for an unannounced inspection.
According to a complaint against Turkiya Mamdouh Alawad, border records show she left the country around Jan. 1, 2024, and returned around Jan. 30.
Yet she allegedly submitted January attendance records and subsequently received eight CDA and YMCA deposits totaling $14,970.
The alleged profits were enormous.
Each defendant reportedly collected between $538,000 and $1.2 million over periods ranging from months to years.
Alawad allegedly received more than $300,000 in 2025 alone, while several defendants allegedly collected more than $1 million each.
“Shameless attempts to steal taxpayer-funded childcare funds for personal gain endanger support for some of our nation’s most vulnerable children,” Special Agent in Charge Robb R. Breeden said.
The 12 complaints are unrelated cases, but authorities allege essentially the same playbook — bogus attendance claims, government payments, and millions of dollars siphoned from programs meant to help low-income families pay for childcare.
All defendants, who range in age from 22 to 63, face wire fraud charges, carrying a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $500,000 fine.
Some also face money-laundering charges carrying the same maximum penalties.
