Twelve men have been arrested in a sweeping San Diego daycare fraud takedown that prosecutors say drained more than $10 million in taxpayer-funded childcare subsidies.
The defendants, ranging in age from 22 to 63, were taken into custody early Thursday when more than 250 federal, state and local law enforcement officers executed 12 search warrants at homes allegedly used as childcare facilities. All 12 are naturalized citizens from Syria, Afghanistan, Sudan, Iraq and Somalia, Attorney General Todd Blanche said.
Federal prosecutors outline a repeated pattern across the unrelated cases. The defendants allegedly obtained California licenses for home childcare operations, registered with Child Development Associates and the YMCA, then submitted falsified attendance records to collect government payments for children they never actually supervised.
Providers in the program were required to document dates and times children were in their care and certify those records under penalty of perjury. Investigators say surveillance footage contradicted the paperwork in stark terms.
Abdulrahman Ayman Alawad allegedly claimed he provided childcare every day in March and April 2026, reporting 23 children in March and 25 in April. Surveillance covering 57 days showed children entering or leaving his facility on just one day — the same day a state inspector arrived for an unannounced inspection, according to prosecutors.
Turkiya Mamdouh Alawad allegedly submitted January attendance records and received eight CDA and YMCA deposits totaling $14,970. Border records show she left the country around Jan. 1, 2024, and returned around Jan. 30, prosecutors said in a complaint against her.
The financial scope varied by defendant but reached staggering sums. Each 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 being handled as separate cases, but authorities allege essentially the same playbook across all of them — bogus attendance claims, government payments, and millions of dollars siphoned from programs meant to help low-income families pay for childcare.
All defendants 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.
The investigation relied heavily on documentary evidence and surveillance to build cases against operators who allegedly exploited a system designed to assist working families with childcare costs.
“All 12 of these individuals were naturalized citizens from Syria, Afghanistan, Sudan, Iraq and Somalia,” Blanche said.
The defendants are expected to make initial court appearances in federal court in San Diego.