Secretary Bessent, Senior U.S. Officials Announce New Fraud Prevention Measures in Minnesota
Initiatives Aim to Stop Unchecked Fraud, Strengthen Accountability, and Restore Integrity to the State
ST. CLOUD, Minn.—In Minnesota, alongside other senior U.S. officials, U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent today announced several initiatives to combat the rampant fraud that has wasted billions of dollars in Minnesota. As part of the White House Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, Treasury continues to work tirelessly to protect American taxpayer dollars and restore integrity to federal benefits programs.
“When greed meets negligence, the American people suffer,” said Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent. “Under President Trump and Vice President Vance’s leadership, Treasury stopped nearly $190 million in funds tied to overseas fraud and returned more than $100 million to U.S. victims. We are working with the White House Task Force to Eliminate Fraud to help prevent this kind of abuse from happening again, in Minnesota or anywhere else.”
Secretary Bessent visited the Twin Cities earlier this year to announce several Treasury initiatives and investigations aimed at combating fraud in Minnesota. He met with representatives from financial institutions, fraud victims, state leaders, and affected community members. During that trip, Treasury also held training sessions for state and local law enforcement on detecting and investigating fraud. Treasury has continued to support federal, state, and local law enforcement with data that is essential to generating new leads, investigating fraud, and dismantling fraud schemes.
This week, Salim Said, co-conspirator in the Feeding Our Future fraud scheme that exploited a federally funded child nutrition program during the COVID-19 pandemic, was sentenced to 30 years in federal prison. These cases result from an investigation conducted by the FBI, IRS Criminal Investigation, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and Homeland Security Investigations.Said was the owner of Safari Restaurant, which was utilized as an alleged food distribution site. As determined at trial, Said participated in a scheme to defraud the Federal Child Nutrition Program under the sponsorship of Feeding Our Future of $49 million. Said was convicted at trial on 21 counts related to wire fraud, money laundering, bribery and conspiracy.
From 2021 to 2025, U.S. financial institutions reported more than $8 billion in potentially suspicious wire payments sent through U.S.-based money services businesses (MSBs) at the direction of foreign agents, which help facilitate transnational transactions.
Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) today issued an alert asking financial institutions to watch for suspicious activity involving certain cross-border payments involving U.S. MSBs. Bad actors may exploit certain U.S. MSBs’ cross-border relationships to move funds through the U.S. financial system while obscuring the ultimate beneficiaries and the underlying purposes of transactions. These structures can help conceal illicit activity, such as funding for terrorist organizations.
FinCEN today also issued a notice to help financial institutions detect and report suspicious activity involving the exploitation of charities and non-profit organizations. Fraudsters sometimes exploit the fundraising capabilities of charities and non-profit organizations to facilitate terrorist financing, fraud, and other illicit activity. Bad actors may funnel funds to terrorists, divert taxpayer dollars from government programs, and steal money intended for charitable causes.
The notice describes three types of schemes exploiting charities and non-profit organizations: