Treasury flags $8B in suspicious foreign-directed transfers through US money services firms

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) within the Treasury Department identified suspicious wire payments sent through U.S.-based money services businesses at the direction of foreign agents between 2021 and 2025. The administration has issued new guidelines for nonprofits that receive foreign money, executed multiple FBI search warrants, and is building a large-scale indictment.

Minnesota Crackdown

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, FBI Director Kash Patel, CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz and FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson held a news conference in Minnesota to detail the substantial fraud uncovered and FBI Minnesota's actions. The Treasury Department issued a notice urging banks to scrutinize nonprofits' donors, funding streams and ties to other groups and governments.

FinCEN noted that bad actors commit fraud in three forms: sham charities diverting funds to illicit activity, charity-related fraud enriching scheme operators, and embezzlement by insiders at legitimate organizations.

Previous Cases

Salim Said, a co-conspirator in the Feeding Our Future case, was sentenced to 30 years in prison this week after being convicted on 21 counts tied to a scheme that defrauded a federal child nutrition program of $49 million. Reports by Shirley exposed a network of fraudulent daycare centers, including the 'Quality Learning Center,' operated mostly by Somali immigrants.

The administration's response led to DHS and ICE agents deploying to Minneapolis to catch and deport Somali immigrants in the country illegally, sparking violent riots across the Twin Cities.

Nonprofit Scrutiny

In April, the IRS tightened tax-exempt reporting requirements to uncover nonprofit funding used for 'extremist activity' and 'hiding fraud.' Treasury Assistant Secretary Ken Kies emphasized that 'tax-exempt status is not immunity from scrutiny' and organizations should be prepared to show who controls the money and where it goes.

Bessent has been involved with the DOJ's grand jury probe into the nonprofit network of Neville Roy Singham, who has funneled $278 million into a broad network of nonprofits since 2017. These groups regularly organize anti-ICE, anti-Israel and pro-Iran demonstrations. Singham, who sold his tech company for $785 million in 2017 and now lives in Shanghai, has not been charged.