A federal fraud investigation into Minnesota daycare centers has uncovered a troubling discovery — the scheme may have been operating undetected for more than a decade.

The discovery was unearthed from evidence in a 2018 fraud case out of Hennepin County against multiple daycare centers for allegedly swindling the government out of more than $1 million. A video of a 2015 Fox 9 KMSP report alleged that low-income parents would sign up their children for daycare services, which would then claim reimbursement for those services that were never provided.

Another video from the broadcast captured a man slipping an envelope to a parent — an alleged kickback payment for participating in the scheme.

It was alleged at the time that at least four different daycare centers had participated in the scheme.

“They were billing too much, they went up too high. It’s hard to imagine they were serving that many people,” Hennepin County attorney Mike Freeman said at the time. “Frankly if you’re going to cheat, cheat little, because if you cheat big you’re going to get caught.”

The 2015 investigation led to the arrest of four people with two individuals pleading guilty to felony theft by swindle, according to the original Fox 9 report.

The discovery of the investigation is just the latest development in the weeks since federal prosecutors charged multiple individuals in Minnesota with stealing more than $240 million from the Federal Child Nutrition Program. The House Oversight Committee is now probing allegations of widespread fraud in the state’s social service programs.

“MN House Democrats tried everything to prevent House Republicans from establishing the Fraud Prevention and Agency Oversight Committee,” The Minnesota House speaker, Lisa Demuth, posted on X, “House Republicans prevailed and established the committee. The theft of tax dollars in MN is finally gaining national attention. Democrats will be held responsible.”

FBI Director Kash Patel said the agency has deployed additional personnel and investigative resources to Minnesota as part of an ongoing effort to “dismantle large-scale fraud schemes exploiting federal programs.”

“To date, the FBI dismantled a $250 million fraud scheme that stole federal food aid meant for vulnerable children during COVID. The investigation exposed sham vendors, shell companies, and large-scale money laundering tied to the Feeding Our Future network,” Mr. Patel said on X.

The revelations also follow explosive outrage over a viral video posted Friday by Nick Shirley. His footage showed visits to multiple Minnesota childcare centers, including one that allegedly collected millions in state funding while appearing largely shuttered.

The video ignited a political firestorm over the weekend, with Vice President JD Vance, Donald Trump Jr., and Elon Musk among the high-profile figures attacking Minnesota Democratic Gov. Tim Walz.

“What’s happening in Minnesota is a microcosm of the immigriation [sic] fraud in our system. Politicans [sic] like it because they get power. Welfare cheats like it because they get rich,” Vice President Vance said in a post on X. “But it’s a zero sum game, and they’re stealing both money and political power from Minnesotans.” [sic]