In Minnesota, Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent announced several initiatives to combat rampant government benefits fraud in Minnesota, which has wasted billions of taxpayer dollars. These initiatives are designed to strengthen and safeguard the financial system and protect Minnesota taxpayers. Secretary Bessent announced several actions taken by the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) to include the issuance of a Geographic Targeting Order to require banks and money transmitters located in Hennepin and Ramsey Counties to report additional information about funds transferred outside of the United States, as well as the issuance of an Alert to urge financial institutions to identify and report fraud associated with Federal child nutrition programs. In addition, FinCEN has issued four notices of investigation to money services businesses located in Minnesota, requesting information from these businesses—which provide financial services outside the formal banking system—for examination and investigative purposes under the Bank Secrecy Act. FinCEN today also provided on-the-ground training for Minnesota-based Federal, state, and local law enforcement on how to utilize financial data, such as Suspicious Activity Reports, to better combat these fraud schemes.
Treasury Press Release: home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sb0354
Minnesota Fraud Geographic Targeting Order (as submitted to the Federal Register):
www.fincen.gov/system/files/2026-01/Minnesota-Fraud-GTO-Order.pdf
Minnesota Fraud Geographic Targeting Order Submission Template:
www.fincen.gov/system/files/2026-01/minnesota-fraud-gto-submission.csv
Minnesota Fraud Geographic Targeting Order Template Dictionary:
www.fincen.gov/system/files/2026-01/minnesota-fraud-gto-template-dictionary.pdf
FinCEN Alert on Fraud Rings and Their Exploitation of Federal Child Nutrition Programs in Minnesota:
www.fincen.gov/system/files/2026-01/FinCEN-Alert-Federal-Child-Nutrition-Programs.pdf
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