ICE arrests illegal alien employed by WA child welfare agency amid fraud allegations

Stanley Robert Kengu Muthee was even wearing a DCYF uniform when ICE officers arrested him Oct. 26. According to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he also claimed to have previously worked in Washington state corrections.

ICE said Muthee entered the United States on Feb. 6, 2019, with permission to remain until Aug. 5 that year. According to the agency, he overstayed and subsequently applied for and received work authorization three times during the Biden administration.

“Illegal aliens should not be working for state governments — Americans should expect better from the offices meant to serve them — but nonetheless, a job with the state of Washington doesn’t come with a free pass to ignore federal immigration law,” said ICE Assistant Director of Public Affairs Micah Bock.

Officers served the Nairobi native with an arrest warrant, and ICE said he would remain in custody pending removal proceedings.

DCYF has confirmed Muthee’s employment. Communications Director Nancy Gutierrez said he began working for the department on Aug. 16, 2024, and supplied documentation to local media indicating he was authorized to work when hired. She said the department had not been notified of a change in his status. ICE’s announcement alleges that he remained in the country unlawfully after overstaying his authorized visit.

The arrest comes amid mounting questions about DCYF’s oversight of taxpayer money, including alleged childcare subsidy fraud, more than $1.3 billion in spending auditors could not adequately verify, millions in questionable payments, and allegations of theft at a state juvenile rehabilitation facility.

Auditors could not fully audit more than $1.3 billion in federal childcare spending between fiscal years 2021 and 2024 because the agency could not provide the provider-level information needed to trace expenditures. The 2024 amount alone exceeded $415 million.

A subsequent audit estimated $37 million in questionable childcare payments during fiscal year 2025: $27.2 million from the federal Child Care Development Fund and $9.9 million from Temporary Assistance for Needy Families. Problems included unsupported billing, missing attendance records, and missing parent signatures.

Separate records documented 1,372 childcare subsidy overpayments totaling approximately $2.09 million between July 2024 and June 2025. Auditors examining DCYF’s own provider reviews found that 67 percent identified overpayments, with approximately 22 percent of the payments examined classified as overpayments. Those figures describe the reviewed cases, rather than the entire provider population.

Records described providers allegedly collecting subsidies for children who never received care. One provider allegedly returned 30 percent of the payments to participating parents and kept the remainder. The records contained allegations and did not establish criminal guilt.

In October, HHS’s Office of Inspector General confirmed exclusively to The Ari Hoffman Show that its investigators had reviewed Washington childcare fraud allegations and were working with the FBI and Washington’s Office of Fraud and Accountability. Washington is also included in a nationwide federal evaluation of how states verify childcare enrollment, attendance and billing.

DCYF’s financial-control problems extend beyond childcare subsidies. An August accountability audit described continuing gift-card tracking failures despite earlier warnings. Auditors received six agency loss reports involving 149 lost or stolen gift cards and found 73 nonfood gift cards unaccounted for at the Seattle MLK office. Earlier fuel-card weaknesses had allowed misappropriations.

The same reporting detailed a whistleblower’s June 2025 warning to Secretary Tana Senn about alleged theft at Echo Glen Children’s Center and an alleged cover-up by agency personnel. Auditors separately identified failures involving unlicensed daycare investigations and legally required training for a worker conducting a child-abuse interview.