Feds Join Fight Against MN Fraud

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent Visits MN

Friends and Neighbors,

I am pleased to inform you that we are making positive momentum in tackling Minnesota's fraud epidemic.

In 2025, Minnesota House Republicans sent a letter to President Trump and the US Department of Justice, asking them to send additional resources to our state to investigate and prosecute fraud. The Trump Administration has responded to our request, and recently sent US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent to visit us in Minnesota.

Secretary Bessent addressed a panel of Republican legislators from the MN House Fraud Committee, journalists, law enforcement officers, and affected constituents, with an update on what is to come.

He announced that the Treasury Department will be using the full power of the federal government's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) to target fraudsters, as well as the firms who facilitated fraudulent overseas wire transfers of stolen Minnesota and US taxpayer dollars. He also stated that a strict digital financial perimeter will be put in place around Hennepin and Ramsey Counties that will require individuals and businesses to go through a stringent process if they wish to send wire transfers outside of the United States. Finally, the Treasury Department is setting up a whistleblower network to provide monetary rewards to those who expose fraudsters.

Multiple times throughout the conference, Secretary Bessent expressed skepticism that such large sums of money could have been stolen without Governor Walz and Attorney General Ellison knowing about, or perhaps even facilitating, the fraud. As investigations are now underway, we will eventually find out the whole story.

Please be assured that the Treasury Department will be holding all involved accountable to the fullest extent of the law.

To watch the conference in full, click the HERE:

Interested In Reading More?

The Minnesota House Republican Caucus has been issuing a monthly update to keep the public informed about ongoing fraud investigations and prosecutions.

To view our December edition of the Minnesota Fraud Monitor, click here.

Accountability Is Coming

The wheels of justice turn slowly. For years, Republican legislators in Minnesota have been sounding the alarm about fraud, but our concerns were routinely dismissed by Governor Walz and Attorney General Ellison. Eventually, the scale of the theft reached a level so extraordinary, that it could no longer be suppressed. We are grateful to the Trump Administration for sending the Treasury Department's financial auditing resources to Minnesota, and we are relieved that justice will finally be served by all involved.

Due to their complexity, these cases will take time to prosecute, but look forward to updating you further as investigations progress.

Representative Tom Murphy