Twelve San Diego County residents are facing federal charges for allegedly holding themselves out as daycare providers and then taking more than $10 million combined in funds intended for low-income families, prosecutors announced Tuesday. The defendants, who all reside in either San Diego or El Cajon, were arrested last Thursday for allegedly falsifying monthly attendance records required to receive federal funds to pay for childcare. Though the defendants claimed in those documents to be caring for children on specific dates, the U.S. Attorney’s Office alleges those claims were disproved by surveillance footage or other documentation showing the purported providers were not even in the country on those dates. One such example highlighted by prosecutors involved a man who claimed to care for as many as 25 children every day for two straight months, though surveillance recordings showed only one day during that time period in which children were present. On that day, a state inspector made an unannounced visit to the home, but no one was present, and less than 30 minutes later, the defendant and children arrived at the home, prosecutors allege. Other defendants were caring for far fewer children than they claimed in the attendance records, according to court documents. Some of the defendants also allegedly submitted attendance records claiming they were caring for children at their San Diego County homes on dates when border crossing records showed they were out of the United States. The U.S. Attorney’s Office alleges the defendants individually received at least $538,000, with some taking in upward of $1 million in payments. All 12 defendants are facing wire fraud charges, while some of the defendants are additionally charged with money laundering. ...read more read less