Some attorneys representing San Diego County childcare providers who have been criminally charged with fraud are raising questions about how the federal investigation has been handled in the early stages.
It has been two weeks since federal prosecutors filed wire fraud charges against a dozen San Diego County home-based childcare providers who collected government subsidies meant to fund childcare for low-income children. More than 7,000 licensed providers offer subsidized childcare throughout the county.
Prosecutors alleged that the 12 defendants — charged in separate and unrelated cases in federal court — falsified attendance sheets they submitted to collect subsidies while serving no children. All 12 entered initial pleas of not guilty…