The Trump Administration is evidently getting serious about cracking down on the sort of massive fraud that migrant groups in blue states have seemingly long been allowed to get away with engaging in, as Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent took to X to announce a massive crackdown on Governor Tim Walz’s Minnesota over the Somali fraud rings scandals.
As background, it has been revealed over the course of 2025 that massive fraud rings largely composed of Somali migrants have been effectively allowed to operate in the state as they engaged in massive fraud that ripped off state and federal taxpayers to the tune of billions and billions of dollars. Some millions of the stolen money even appears to have ended up funding the Al Shabab terror group in Somalia.
While the Walz administration has been largely slothful and negligent in dealing with the issue, in what small ways it has dealt with it at all, the Trump Administration is getting serious about cracking down on it and dealing with the problem “for good” so that it never happens again. Such is what Scott Bessent revealed in a post made on Friday, December 12.
Beginning the post, the Treasury Secretary rightly referred to the fraud as “egregious”, and described how the Somali fraudsters were able to shuttle the funds back to Somalia. He said, “Egregious fraud in Minnesota has cost taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars, including funds sent to Somalia through money services businesses (MSBs), which provide financial services outside a formal bank.”
Continuing, he noted that the scams that funded the offshoring of so much cash back to Somalia are utterly disturbing and that the Trump Administration will be cracking down and fully investigating it. He said, “Under @POTUS’ leadership, the @USTreasury will not stop until we fully investigate this deeply disturbing scam.”
Adding to that, he noted one change that is being made to reporting requirements so as to staunch the outflow of money, saying, “To that end, Treasury will soon issue a Geographic Targeting Order (GTO) subjecting certain Money Services Businesses (MSBs) to enhanced reporting requirements with FinCEN.”
Further, he explained what that will do and how it will prove useful, saying, “This important tool will be used to make sure information regarding any such illicit activity is quickly reported to @FinCENnews and made available to our law enforcement partners. This will empower investigators to develop additional leads through increased scrutiny on funds going to areas of concern, such as Somalia.”
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Then, shifting subjects a bit, he described how Treasury investigators are already on the ground in Minnesota and are digging into everything, saying, “Additionally, Treasury personnel are on the ground working hard to uncover the facts. FinCEN will soon be issuing Notices of Investigations to MSBs of concern, and I can report that @IRSnews will be examining these businesses.”
Concluding, the Treasury Secretary noted that the Trump Administration is jumping into this investigation both feet first, and will not stop until such fraud is ended for good. He said, “Under President Trump, we will not stop until we fully investigate, analyze, and permanently end this massive fraud ring.”
Watch Secretary Bessent comment on Ilhan Omar’s connection to the scandal here: