U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent introduced the creation of a brand new IRS job drive and different measures to fight fraud, underscoring the Trump administration’s give attention to Minnesota amidst the immigration crackdown.
“Minnesota goes to be the protocols, procedures and investigative methods and collaboration. Minnesota goes to be the genesis for a nationwide rollout,” Bessent mentioned. “Treasury will deploy all instruments to carry an finish to this egregious, unchecked fraud and maintain perpetrators to account.”
In keeping with Bessent, the IRS job drive will particularly probe monetary establishments that facilitate wire transfers, as proof from the Feeding Our Future trial confirmed some suspects despatched cash to banks in Kenya and China. Bessent added that 4 Twin Cities-based companies are underneath investigation, however didn’t share their names. The division can be requiring all monetary establishments in Hennepin and Ramsey counties to report any abroad switch of $3,000 or extra.
“Consider the absurdity of cash being wired from Minnesota by these people that would have come from authorities applications or from extra advantages,” Bessent added. “This shouldn’t be wired overseas and we’re going to be cracking down on that.”
Bessent’s go to additionally comes on the heels of Legal professional Basic Pam Bondi’s announcement {that a} workforce of prosecutors is headed to Minnesota “to strengthen our U.S. Legal professional’s Workplace and put perpetrators of this widespread fraud behind bars.”
“We are going to ship extreme penalties in Minnesota and stand able to deploy to another state the place related fraud schemes are robbing American taxpayers,” Bondi mentioned.
Reached for remark, Minnesota Legal professional Basic Keith Ellison’s workplace mentioned it “categorically rejects the premise that the ‘underlying purpose’ Trump has ordered the outsized presence of ICE in Minnesota is due to fraud,” and mentioned “Ellison does have intensive expertise in efficiently preventing fraud.”
“What Donald Trump is aware of about fraud is not preventing it, it is truly letting fraudsters out of jail,” Ellison’s workplace added.
