Bessent targets money services businesses in Minnesota fraud probe

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced a financial reporting crackdown in Minnesota on Friday as part of the ongoing investigation into sprawling fraud schemes rocking the state, including the deployment of Treasury personnel to the field.

The Treasury Department is implementing a geographic targeting order focused on money services businesses – which are understood to be financial operations that provide money transfers, currency exchange and check cashing – to ensure that potential illegal activities are reported to the Treasury’s financial crime network. Bessent said the increased security will monitor whether funds are transferred to places like Somalia.

“This important tool will be used to ensure that information regarding any such illicit activity is promptly reported to @FinCENnews and made available to our law enforcement partners,” Bessent told X Friday morning. “This will allow investigators to develop additional leads through increased control over funds intended for areas of concern, such as Somalia.”

Bessent added that Treasury employees are on the ground in Minnesota, including investigating money services businesses suspected of participating in fraudulent schemes.

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Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced a financial reporting crackdown in Minnesota on December 12, 2025. (Eric Lee/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

“Additionally, Treasury staff are working hard on the ground to uncover the facts. FinCEN will soon be sending notices of investigation to MSBs of concern, and I can report that @IRSnews will be reviewing these companies,” Bessent posted.

Bessent announced in early December that he had opened an investigation into “reckless mismanagement” by Minnesota Democratic Gov. Tim Walz, who allegedly enabled what U.S. Attorney for the District of Minnesota Daniel Rosen called “the largest Covid-19 fraud scheme in the country.”

The scandal initially centered around a nonprofit called Feeding Our Future. The group and its partners are accused of embezzling up to $250 million from a federal child nutrition program by allegedly creating hundreds of fictitious meal sites. At least 77 people have been charged in connection with the scam, many of them from Minnesota’s Somali community.

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The sun shines on the Minnesota State Capitol in St. Paul on the opening day of the 2024 session of the Minnesota Legislature. (Steve Karnowski/Associated Press)

The scandal, local Republican lawmakers say, runs much deeper and could total more than $2 billion in fraud, pointing the finger at various nonprofits that allegedly defrauded the government.

The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform announced that it was launch your own investigation on “widespread fraud in Minnesota’s social services programs under the leadership of Governor Tim Walz,” highlighting how fraud allegedly affected several government programs.

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A protester waves a Somali flag as a vehicle passes a protest rally against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), part of a federal immigration operation targeting the Somali community, in Minneapolis, December 8, 2025. (Tim Evans/Reuters)

President Donald Trump denounced the plans while saying “Somali gangs” should be deported.

“Somali gangs are terrorizing the people of this great state, and BILLIONS of dollars are missing. Send them back where they came from,” Trump said on Truth Social about the fraud.

Minnesota Democrats, including Walz and Rep. Ilhan Omar, fought back, accusing Trump of defaming the Somali community for political reasons.

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“You commit crimes, you go to prison. It doesn’t matter what race, ethnicity or religion you are,” Walz said earlier in December. “But demonizing an entire group of people because of their race and ethnicity? A group of people who contribute to the vitality – economic, cultural – of this state, that’s something I hoped we would never have to see.”

Andrew Mark Miller, Peter Pinedo and Michael Dorgan of Fox News Digital contributed to this report.