Trump administration announces federal offensive against fraud in Minnesota and creates portal with $30,000 reward

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced a federal crackdown on fraud in public programs in Minnesota that includes a single reporting portal, a $25 million whistleblower incentive program and rewards of up to $30,000. The announcement was made alongside FBI director Kash Patel, according to the Fox Business broadcast.

According to Bessent, the Treasury launched the America.gov/fraud portal, which brings together in one place complaints that were previously dispersed among various security agencies. Anyone who comes forward with information that leads to a conviction or enforcement action may be eligible for a $30,000 reward, the secretary said.

Investigations and arrests

Patel said that in a single day, the Minneapolis FBI and partners executed 17 search warrants, which resulted in an indictment with 26 counts. Three warrants targeted a child care center, two targeted the owners of those centers, and two others were served at a developmental and behavioral intervention unit.

Four alleged fraudsters were arrested. The cases cited involve healthcare fraud and intended losses ranging from US$3.27 million to US$10 million per defendant. One of them is charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States, with around US$20 million in intended losses. According to Patel, the defendants tried to defraud thousands of victims of more than US$1 million, money intended for people in need.

Patel also stated that, in the case of the Feeding Our Future program, in Minnesota, 81 people were accused, of which 70 have already been convicted, with fraud worth more than US$500,000. According to him, the FBI captured four of the most wanted fraudsters on its list, who had been on the run for almost 5,000 days and had allegedly defrauded Americans of US$2 billion.

Numbers and control of financial flows

Bessent said that since January 2025, the Trump administration has uncovered more than $260 billion in fraud, prevented $72 billion in taxpayer funds from leaving to illicit actors, and taken enforcement action against nearly $60 billion. Last year, the Treasury recovered $175 million in payments that would have gone to deceased people and expanded access to the “Do Not Pay” basis in federal programs. It also blocked nearly $190 million and returned more than $100 million to American victims of fraud abroad.

The Treasury also ordered an audit of about $9 billion in contracts and, with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), proposed stricter eligibility checks for health insurance tax credits. The Financial Crimes Combat Network (FinCEN) issued a geographic scope order to target criminal networks that divert resources abroad and opened investigations into the El-Shebob network. According to Bessent, FinCEN also identified more than $8 billion in potentially suspicious payments directed by foreign agents between 2021 and 2025, and warned financial institutions about transfers by money services companies.

What changes for the investor

Tightening oversight of international transfers and non-profit institutions tends to increase compliance requirements for banks and remittance companies in the US, as the alert calls for greater vigilance in detecting and reporting suspicious activity. The government also presents the offensive as a defense of taxpayer money, a central theme for those who follow American public accounts.

The transcript does not include projections about the impact on the stock market, interest rates or the dollar, and the numbers presented are those of the authorities, not independent calculations. In Bessent's assessment, fraud in Minnesota is a "legacy" of former governor Tim Walz's administration, a criticism of a political nature that has not been independently verified.

Automatically translated from Portuguese.