Worth Knowing, Probably Not Quite Threadworthy 9/17

[SVPete]

Daycare Scammers Get Scooped Up in San Diego and Patel Drops a BOOMITY

https://hotair.com/tree-hugging-sister/2026/09/16/daycare-scammers-get-scooped-up-in-san-diego-n3819055

There were some incredible fireworks from FBI Director Kash Patel's testimony in front of the Senate yesterday.

I mean, any time I hear Spartacus warm up his pipes and get a well-deserved smackdown in return that also takes out sleazy Adam Schiff, it just puts a smile on my face.

But what was really the meat of the matter, if you can get through the blowhard Democratic theater kids and their performances to get material for campaign ads, were the (crime decrease) statistics that Patel brought with him.
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The Department of Justice, the Internal Revenue Service, the Department of Homeland Security, and the FBI are tearing up the fraud industry, too. Just like the crime numbers, so many people will pooh-pooh, 'Oh, it's just $10 million' or 'when do we get it back,' and not once look at the fact that shutting down these operations wholesale, the way this administration has been, is the start, and the savings going forward we've needed, at a rate no one ever did before.
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Another massive operation just yielded multiple arrests in San Diego last Thursday...
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...USA v. Mohamad Salim Alawad and USA v. Mazin Salim Alawad are set to be announced at a federal press conference on childcare fraud.

According to divorce court records I researched, Mohamad claimed he was making $20,000 per month from his daycare.

Alawad, Mohamad Family Child Care

He also owned Safe Journey Transportation Inc., a non-emergency transportation company, with his brother Mazin, who is also charged. So he had a daycare and a NEMT company.

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These were ghost daycare schemes. Lots of daycares and no children.

Twelve individuals are facing federal fraud charges after an investigation revealed that more than $10 million intended to help low-income families pay for childcare was instead funneled to bogus daycare providers.

In a coordinated takedown early Thursday morning, more than 250 federal, state and local law enforcement officials arrested all 12 defendants and executed 12 search warrants at homes in San Diego purported to be used as daycare facilities. The defendants are naturalized U.S. citizens and Lawful Permanent Residents originally from Syria, Somalia, Sudan, Afghanistan, and Iraq.

I can certainly understand why Kash Patel POs Dems, SoCal's Schifftyroo, especially. BTW, he also smacked down obnoxoid Mazie Hirono, who was trying to falsely claim he had not responded to her demand for certain information. Patel retorted by pointing out to her that the response had been posted online quite a while ago and was publicly available.

[SVPete]

Karen Bass Feels Heat From Feds Over Millions in Stolen and Laundered ‘Homeless’ Funds

https://pjmedia.com/victoria-taft/2026/09/16/indictments-may-explain-why-la-mayor-karen-bass-just-quit-disastrous-government-homeless-authority-n4957304

The Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA) laundered more than $75 million for charlatans, cheaters, and thieves, at least one of whom used more than $1 million of the more than $110 million in homeless funds he received to open a nightclub.

And it's no wonder that Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, who's running for reelection, smelled trouble and quit her membership in and control over LAHSA before the feds announced indictments on Wednesday.
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Nearly a year ago, the guy who should be the U.S. attorney in the Central District of California but isn't thanks to Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) announced indictments against some major players in a massive fraud against taxpayers who have funded the dysfunctional homeless industrial complex in the city of Los Angeles.

Here's what Bill Essayli said at the time at a presser announcing the indictments  of two people who worked with Los Angeles-approved homeless nongovernmental organizations (NGOs):
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Well, folks, it looks like it's getting a little hot in here at the old Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA), which coordinates housing and social services for the homeless in Los Angeles County. Though LAHSA is a countywide agency, Karen Bass has nearly full control over its board and appoints its chair.

Allow me to amend and extend my remarks.

Karen Bass used to have nearly full control over the members and chairman. Karen quit the other day when she undoubtedly caught wind of another set of indictments dropping like a dumb bomb on her buddies in the Los Angeles homeless industrial complex.

When your "solution for a problem is to throw money at it, with little meaningful oversight, fraudsters will be ready to catch a lot of it.