WASHINGTON — Fraudsters behind the notorious “Quality Learing Center” daycare facility in Minnesota raked in nearly a quarter of a million dollars worth of pandemic-era loans from the Small Business Administration, according to a senator’s investigation.
That daycare center, which had a misspelled name and a near-empty parking lot when YouTuber Nick Shirley stopped by for his viral video last year, became the poster child of the fraud scandal that rocked Minnesota.
The facility, which shuttered in January, had garnered some $1.9 million from Minnesota’s Child Care Assistance Program last year and some $10 million in state funding since 2019.
But a probe by Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) found that it had also received federal assistance from the Small Business Administration back in April and May of 2020 during the first Trump administration.
That money was designed to pay salaries, rent, and other expenses during the COVID-19 shutdown at the Quality Learning Center.
Ernst is trying to figure out how the SBA assistance money was used. While there are records of the loan going out and then being forgiven, there are no “receipts” about where the money went, a source familiar with the matter explained to The Post.
If the watchdog determines the money was spent improperly, the feds could pursue punitive measures, such as criminal investigations.
“The crooks behind the ‘Learing Center’ didn’t stop there,” Ernst wrote in a letter to the SBA’s Office of the Inspector General. “They also took advantage of hardworking Americans through COVID-era U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) programs and raked in nearly a quarter of a million dollars.”
The incident is one of 28 cases the Senate DOGE boss is pushing the SBA’s official watchdog to probe, alongside other fraud concerns in Medicaid and Ohio, inspired by DailyWire reporting on the Buckeye State.
In its listings with the SBA, the name, Quality Learning Center, was spelled correctly. Records show it got a $231,472 total award from the agency, including $215,645 in face value worth of loans between April and May of 2020. Those loans were marked on file as getting forgiven.
“Americans expect their tax dollars to be spent responsibly — not to bankroll criminal enterprises,” Ernst told The Post. “I have a message to anyone even thinking of ripping off taxpayers: You engage in government grift and graft, then you’re getting cuffed and stuffed, with scammers going to the slammer.”
Last year, in response to Shirley’s viral video, SBA Administrator Kelly Loeffler announced that her agency was pumping the brakes on $5.5 million worth of annual funding to the state of Minnesota amid a review.
She said the agency found 13,600 different COVID-19-era Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans — $430 million worth — to the state that were subject to fraud concerns. This included $3 million that was implicated in the Feeding Our Future fraud scandal that roiled the state.
Prior to Shirley’s viral visit to Minnesota, the feds had slapped charges against dozens of individuals, which have now led to some 65 convictions, according to the Justice Department.
The Post contacted SBA and SBA OIG for comment.
Fraud in Minnesota led to a national reckoning over how taxpayers’ dollars are getting swindled in the country’s web of social welfare programs, including phony hospices in Los Angeles, and more.
President Trump has tapped Vice President JD Vance to helm the White House Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, which aims to combat that malfeasance.
Last week, Vance issued an ultimatum to all 50 states, demanding that they step up against fraud in their Medicaid program or else face funding cuts.
