As federal immigration enforcement and local protests roiled Minneapolis, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent used a Friday trip to Minnesota to outline new steps his department says target fraud involving international money flows. In remarks to reporters, Bessent said the Treasury Department is taking a closer look at financial transactions between Minnesota residents and businesses and Somalia, describing the initiative as part of a broader push by the Trump administration to crack down on fraud as it escalates enforcement in the state.
Bessent said the Treasury has launched a series of actions to combat fraud in Minnesota and has begun investigations into four businesses that people use to wire money to family members abroad. He did not identify the businesses publicly when he spoke to reporters, and the department has not disclosed which financial institutions Bessent met with during the visit.
The Treasury’s Minnesota effort also includes Financial Crimes Enforcement Network investigations into Minnesota-based money services businesses. Bessent said the department is working to scrutinize the transactions more closely, and he described enhanced transaction reporting requirements for international transfers from Hennepin and Ramsey counties. The Treasury also issued alerts to financial institutions on identifying fraud tied to child nutrition programs.
Bessent’s comments came as protests continued in Minneapolis after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer fatally shot a woman in a residential neighborhood south of downtown on Wednesday. The incident, and the resulting clashes between federal and local leaders, have intensified political tensions in Minnesota, with the Somali community among the groups raising concerns about how federal enforcement is playing out on the ground.
The Treasury’s fraud-focused announcements were prompted, in part, by prior fraud cases. The Associated Press report said the department cited the Feeding Our Future case, in which a nonprofit accused of stealing coronavirus pandemic aid meant for school meals. Prosecutors have put the losses from that case at $300 million, and the founder, Aimee Bock, was charged with multiple counts involving conspiracy, wire fraud and bribery and was convicted in March while maintaining her innocence.
Walz, whose administration faced heavy criticism from Republicans who said it should have caught the Feeding Our Future fraud earlier, said fraud would not be tolerated in Minnesota. Walz said his administration would “continue to work with federal partners to ensure fraud is stopped and fraudsters are caught,” and he described himself as “furious” at “criminals that preyed on the system that was meant to feed children.”
Bessent’s announcement drew criticism as well. Nicholas Anthony, a policy analyst at the libertarian Cato Institute, said Bessent was “building a legacy of financial surveillance and control,” arguing that the steps would stop Americans from sending money abroad while increasing surveillance under the Bank Secrecy Act. Bessent, while declining to comment on specific investigations, also told reporters that he had met with financial institutions to ask them to do more to prevent fraud.
The AP report said some Somali leaders have received anecdotal reports that community members were detained by federal agents, but had not received details. Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, along with Somali leaders and allies, have vowed to protect the community. In a Thursday speech at the Economic Club of Minnesota, Bessent referred to alleged fraud without mentioning the Somali community that his department is targeting.
Bessent said his work is aimed at stopping what he described as unchecked wrongdoing, and he told reporters: “Treasury will deploy all tools to bring an end to this egregious unchecked fraud and hold perpetrators to account.” In his remarks, he also framed the initiative as part of an effort to recover stolen funds, pursue fraud cases, and investigate similar schemes “state by state.”