Federal authorities have flagged more than $8 billion in potentially fraudulent foreign-directed wire transfers and launched a broader crackdown on nonprofit financing, senior Trump administration officials announced Friday in Minnesota.
The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, an agency within the Treasury Department, uncovered the suspicious transactions spanning from 2021 through 2025, Fox News reported. Investigators found the transfers were routed through domestic money services businesses at the instruction of foreign agents, prompting new regulatory guidance, search warrants and an expanding federal indictment.
Speaking alongside law enforcement leaders in Minnesota, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the administration has disrupted nearly $190 million tied to international fraud schemes and returned upwards of $100 million to domestic victims. Bessent noted that FinCEN enacted a geographic targeting order to track criminal enterprises and prevent public funds from reaching overseas terrorist organizations such as Al-Shabaab.
“When greed meets negligence, the American people suffer,” Bessent said in a statement to Fox News Digital, adding that federal agencies are coordinating through the White House Task Force to Eliminate Fraud.
Hundreds charged across Minnesota
The federal enforcement push has focused heavily on Minnesota, where FinCEN records have aided in arresting and indicting 115 individuals, yielding 75 convictions and nearly 3,000 subpoenas, according to Bessent. On Thursday, criminal investigators from the Internal Revenue Service took part in operations across several locations suspected of fraudulent conduct.
FBI Director Kash Patel, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz and Federal Trade Commission Chairman Andrew Ferguson joined Bessent at the Friday press briefing. Patel emphasized the bureau’s intention to pursue financial criminals aggressively, stating that the FBI “will put in prison anyone who commits fraud anywhere in the world against any American citizen,” according to Fox News.
The conference followed high-profile cases in the state, including the sentencing this week of Salim Said to 30 years in prison for his role in the Feeding Our Future scandal. Said was convicted on 21 counts involving the theft of $49 million from a federal child nutrition initiative, part of an alleged wider $250 million scheme. Federal authorities also responded after allegations surfaced involving fraudulent daycare centers in the Twin Cities.
Heightened scrutiny for nonprofits
As part of the initiative, the Treasury Department published an alert instructing financial institutions to closely examine the funding streams, donors and international ties of nonprofit entities. FinCEN warned that opaque financial setups can hide the true beneficiaries and leave organizations vulnerable to money laundering or terrorism financing.
The agency outlined three primary mechanisms for abuse: fraudulent charities designed to funnel capital into unlawful operations, schemes intended to enrich internal organizers, and embezzlement inside otherwise legitimate groups. Acting IRS Chief Counsel Ken Kies noted that public organizations must remain transparent, stating earlier this year that “tax-exempt status is not immunity from scrutiny.”
Federal investigators also continue to probe international financial networks. Bessent met with Goldman Sachs Chief Executive David Solomon regarding accounts connected to Neville Roy Singham, an American living in Shanghai who sold his software company for $785 million in 2017, Fox News reported. Singham has directed $278 million into various nonprofit organizations since 2017, according to the outlet. While Singham has not been charged with wrongdoing, a federal grand jury investigation led by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York remains active.
