Attorney General Pam Bondi conducts a news conference at the Department of Justice on Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
Bondi's remarks, first reported by the New York Post, come as the department continues a welfare fraud investigation that broke open under former Attorney General Merrick Garland.
In 2022, Garland announced the first wave of indictments in what he said was a $250 million scheme perpetrated by a Minnesota-based nonprofit called Feeding Our Future, which was found to have exploited taxpayer-funded child nutrition programs. Garland described it at the time as the "largest pandemic relief fraud to date."
The DOJ under Bondi has continued to investigate and prosecute those involved with Feeding our Future and tangential schemes involving alleged juror bribery and healthcare fraud. Bondi recently said the scale of the fraud is greater than previously known and that more criminal charges are coming, likely with the help of the additional prosecutors now set to work in the DOJ's Minnesota office.
Quality Learning Center in Minnesota was found at the center of an alleged childcare fraud scandal in the state. (Madelin Fuerste / Fox News Channel)
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A viral video posted by YouTube creator Nick Shirley in December amplified the attention on fraud in Minnesota. The video, showing Shirley visiting Somali-run daycare centers and finding that they were closed, has attracted millions of views on social media.
Some of the daycare centers have since disputed the suggestions in Shirley's video and said they have never committed fraud.
Fox News’ Bill Melugin contributed to this report.
Ashley Oliver is a reporter for Fox News Digital and FOX Business, covering the Justice Department and legal affairs. Email story tips to ashley.oliver@fox.com.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/doj-send-prosecutors-crack-down-minnesota-fraud