{"id":23642,"date":"2026-01-11T02:54:11","date_gmt":"2026-01-11T02:54:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/egretnews.com\/?p=23642"},"modified":"2026-01-11T02:54:11","modified_gmt":"2026-01-11T02:54:11","slug":"as-tensions-flare-in-minnesota-treasury-secretary-bessent-pushes-a-crackdown-on-fraud","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/egretnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/11\/as-tensions-flare-in-minnesota-treasury-secretary-bessent-pushes-a-crackdown-on-fraud\/","title":{"rendered":"As tensions flare in Minnesota, Treasury Secretary Bessent pushes a crackdown on fraud"},"content":{"rendered":"

WASHINGTON<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 The Treasury Department is taking\u00a0a closer look at financial transactions<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0between Minnesotan residents and businesses and Somalia as the federal government\u00a0ramps up its immigration crackdown<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0in the state, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told reporters on Friday during a visit to the state.<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Bessent said his agency has launched a series of actions to combat fraud in the state and has launched investigations into four businesses that people use to wire money to family members abroad to do more to scrutinize transactions. He did not name the businesses.<\/em><\/p>\n

His visit to the state coincides with protests in Minneapolis after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer\u00a0fatally shot a woman<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0in a residential neighborhood south of downtown on Wednesday, leading to a clash between federal and local leaders.<\/em><\/p>\n

President Donald Trump has\u00a0targeted the Somali diaspora<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0in the Democratic-led state with immigration enforcement actions and has made\u00a0a series of disparaging comments<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0about the community, directing Bessent to uncover more fraud. The Treasury first announced last month that it would begin targeting money service businesses, focusing on remittances to Somalia.<\/em><\/p>\n

The department’s actions have been prompted in part by a series of fraud cases, including a nonprofit called Feeding Our Future accused of stealing coronavirus pandemic aid meant for school meals. Prosecutors have put the losses from that case at $300 million.<\/em><\/p>\n

Gov. Tim Walz, before he\u00a0ended his bid to serve a third term<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0this week, said that fraud will not be tolerated in Minnesota and that his administration \u201cwill continue to work with federal partners to ensure fraud is stopped and fraudsters are caught.\u201d Walz, who\u00a0came under heavy criticism<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0from Republicans who said his administration\u00a0should have caught<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0the Feeding Our Future fraud earlier, said he was \u201cfurious\u201d with \u201ccriminals that preyed on the system that was meant to feed children.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

The founder of Feeding our Future,\u00a0Aimee Bock<\/strong><\/a>, was charged with multiple counts involving conspiracy, wire fraud and bribery and was convicted in March while maintaining her innocence.<\/em><\/p>\n

Bessent declined to comment on specific investigations but said he had met with several financial institutions on Friday to ask them to do more to prevent fraud. The department has not disclosed which institutions Bessent spoke with.<\/em><\/p>\n

Key Treasury actions include Financial Crimes Enforcement Network investigations into Minnesota-based money services businesses, enhanced transaction reporting requirements for international transfers from Hennepin and Ramsey counties, and alerts to financial institutions on identifying fraud tied to child nutrition programs.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cTreasury will deploy all tools to bring an end to this egregious unchecked fraud and hold perpetrators to account,\u201d Bessent told reporters on Friday.<\/em><\/p>\n

Bessent\u2019s announcement was met with some criticism. Nicholas Anthony, a policy analyst at the libertarian Cato Institute, said Bessent is \u201cbuilding a legacy of financial surveillance and control.”<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cThe announcement that he is stopping Americans from sending their money abroad and increasing surveillance under the Bank Secrecy Act should be condemned,\u201d Anthony said.<\/em><\/p>\n

Some Somali leaders said last month they had received anecdotal reports about community members being detained by federal agents but had no details. Those leaders and allies including Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey have vowed to protect the community.<\/em><\/p>\n

During a speech on Thursday about the Republican Trump administration\u2019s economic agenda at the Economic Club of Minnesota, Bessent referred to the alleged fraud, without mentioning the Somali community that his department is targeting.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cI am here this week to signal the U.S. Treasury\u2019s unwavering commitment to recovering stolen funds, prosecuting fraudulent criminals, preventing scandals like this from ever happening again, and investigating similar schemes state by state,\u201d Bessent said.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0egretnewseditor@gmail.com\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

WASHINGTON\u00a0\u2013 The Treasury Department is taking\u00a0a closer look at financial transactions\u00a0between Minnesotan residents and businesses and Somalia as the federal government\u00a0ramps up its immigration crackdown\u00a0in the state, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told reporters on Friday during a visit to the state.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":47471,"featured_media":23643,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[198,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23642","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-slider","category-top-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/egretnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23642","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/egretnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/egretnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/egretnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/47471"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/egretnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23642"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/egretnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23642\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23644,"href":"https:\/\/egretnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23642\/revisions\/23644"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/egretnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23643"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/egretnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23642"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/egretnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23642"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/egretnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23642"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}