Granny's Pray & Play Child Care Center
Outcome
Patricia L. Johnson-Rushing, owner of Granny's Pray & Play in Kansas City, pleaded guilty to theft of public money, benefits fraud, and conspiracy to defraud the United States for submitting false child attendance records to receive $83,394 in fraudulent CCDF childcare payments, stealing $120,000 in government benefits, and failing to remit $154,186 in employee tax withholdings.
Details
Granny's Pray & Play Child Care Center (Kansas City) — Childcare Subsidy Fraud and Tax Conspiracy (2016–2019)
Outcome: Patricia L. Johnson-Rushing, 55, owner of Granny's Pray & Play childcare center in Kansas City, Missouri, pleaded guilty on September 7, 2023 to theft of public money, benefits fraud, and conspiracy to defraud the United States for a multi-layered fraud scheme totaling $772,861 — including submitting false child attendance records, collecting unauthorized government benefits, and failing to remit employee payroll taxes.
Granny's Pray & Play was a childcare center located at 3714 E. 27th Street in Kansas City, Missouri, operating as a licensed provider in Missouri's federally funded Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) assistance program.
Johnson-Rushing's fraud operated on three fronts. First, from January 1, 2016 through November 28, 2019, she submitted false claims to the Missouri Department of Social Services through the CCDF program, intentionally reporting false information about children attending Granny's Pray & Play in order to receive childcare subsidy payments she was not entitled to — generating $83,394 in fraudulent childcare funding.
Second, Johnson-Rushing fraudulently collected approximately $120,000 in government benefits — likely food assistance — while operating a business and earning income that made her ineligible for those benefits.
Third, Johnson-Rushing participated in a conspiracy to obstruct the collection of federal employment taxes by collecting $154,186 in federal income tax and FICA contributions from employee paychecks — funds that by law belonged to the IRS — but failing to remit those withheld amounts to the government. The total fraud across all three schemes was $772,861.
Johnson-Rushing pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Greg Kays. The case was prosecuted by the Western District of Missouri in coordination with HHS OIG and the IRS.
Primary Source: KC Daycare Owner Pleads Guilty to $772,000 Fraud Scheme | DOJ
How Crucible Prevents This
Crucible's childcare-subsidy attendance verification controls would flag claims submitted for children who were not present, requiring electronic sign-in records matched against billing submissions. The employee-withholding remittance enforcement workflow would flag any payroll period where employee tax withholdings were not forwarded to the IRS within the required time, catching the $154,186 employment tax diversion early. Crucible's government-benefits-eligibility compliance screen would require annual disclosure of owner income and assets to ensure no unauthorized benefit receipt alongside operating a publicly funded business.
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