Treasury Sec. Bessent, FBI Director Patel, Administrator Oz Hold Fraud Press Conference

[25:13] Please welcome the Secretary of the Treasury, Scott Bessent. [25:28] Good afternoon, and thank you all for being here today. [25:31] I'm pleased to be joined by FBI Director Cash Patel, CMS Administrator Mehmet Oz, [25:38] FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson, and Assistant Attorney General Colin McDonald. [25:44] As we bring new force to the fight against fraud, [25:48] President Trump has made clear that the war on fraud is not the work of one department, [25:54] but a mandate that we must carry across the entire administration. [25:58] I am proud to stand alongside so many dedicated colleagues who are delivering on that mandate every day. [26:07] America is a generous country, and the compassion of our people imposes a corresponding duty on our government. [26:15] That is why I visited Minnesota in January to make clear that the U.S. Treasury is deploying every tool [26:23] to bring an end to this egregious, unchecked fraud and hold perpetrators to account. [26:30] Over the past year, Treasury returned $175 million in payments that would have gone to deceased individuals [26:37] and expanded the do-not-pay access from 4% to 99% of federal programs. [26:44] Further, we've stopped almost $190 million and returned over $100 million in funds to U.S. victims of overseas fraud, [26:55] ordered an audit of approximately $9 billion in Treasury contracts, [26:59] and together with our partners at the IRS, proposed stronger eligibility checks for health insurance tax credits. [27:08] These actions form one front of a whole-of-government effort led by Vice President Vance. [27:14] The Vice President's Task Force first convened in March, [27:18] and he has worked tirelessly to restore vigilance and responsible stewardship in the management of public money. [27:26] Since January 2025, the Trump administration has uncovered more than $260 billion in fraud, [27:34] prevented $72 billion in taxpayers' funds from going out the door to illicit actors annually, [27:39] and brought enforcement actions against nearly $60 billion. [27:45] Nowhere is the work more urgent than here in Minnesota. [27:49] In the weeks following my visit, Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, [27:54] known as FinCEN, issued a geographic targeting order to trace criminal networks [28:00] that divert funds overseas and ensure that taxpayer dollars go to the American people, [28:06] not terror groups like Al-Shabaab. [28:10] We have ongoing investigations at home and abroad into Al-Shabaab, its networks, and its enablers. [28:18] Since the start of the Trump administration, [28:21] FinCEN data have also supported the law enforcement effort that led to the arrest and charging of 115 fraudsters, [28:29] as well as 75 convictions and nearly 3,000 subpoenas across Minnesota. [28:37] And just yesterday, IRSCI assisted with investigative activity at several sites suspected of fraud. [28:46] I want to give a shout-out to our great officers at IRSCI. [28:51] They don't get much press, but they are quietly one of the most effective groups in the United States government for fighting fraud. [28:58] Today, FinCEN released additional information to help refer new leads to law enforcement [29:05] and provide support to ongoing investigations. [29:09] We issued a notice to help financial institutions identify, report suspicious activity, [29:15] especially those involving charities and nonprofits. [29:19] The notice highlights how criminals exploit fundraising capabilities to facilitate terrorist financing, fraud, [29:26] and other illicit activity. [29:27] FinCEN also issued an alert on the risk associated with cross-border transactions [29:33] originated by money service businesses, known as MSBs. [29:40] The alert details how bad actors can exploit MSBs to move funds overseas. [29:46] FinCEN identified over $8 billion in potentially suspicious foreign agent-directed payments [29:53] between 2021 and 2025 alone. [29:57] And today's alert urges financial institutions to be vigilant in detecting, identifying, [30:04] and reporting suspicious activity arising from certain cross-border payments, including U.S.-based MSBs. [30:12] The next phase of this fight, meanwhile, will make it easier than ever [30:17] for whistleblowers who know where the fraud is to help lead us to it. [30:22] Until now, any citizen who detected fraud was forced to navigate a maze of tip lines scattered across law enforcement agencies. [30:32] No more. [30:33] For the first time, we've created a single centralized portal at america.gov slash fraud. [30:41] Treasury is proud to cede this new $25 million fraud whistleblower incentive program. [30:50] Anyone who submits information that leads to a conviction or enforcement action may be eligible for a $30,000 reward. [31:00] Speaking up has long carried a cost for whistleblowers. [31:03] Under President Trump, it can offer a reward. [31:06] Now, the industrial-scale fraud that Tim Waltz shamefully and perhaps knowingly allowed to fester is the defining legacy of his administration. [31:18] But with President Trump back in office, Washington is no longer content to watch Minnesota's fraud epidemic spiral from a distance. [31:26] The days of indifference are over, and under this president's leadership, wherever the money leads, the full weight of government will follow. [31:34] Now, I'm pleased to turn it over to someone who has helped give the fight against fraud both its discipline and its force, FBI Director Cash Patel. [31:49] Thank you, Scott. [31:52] This FBI follows the money. [31:55] This FBI will put in prison anyone who commits fraud anywhere in the world against any American citizen. [32:03] Thanks to President Trump, we finally have a commander-in-chief who prioritized the initiative to go after the fraudsters with the full force of government. [32:11] Thanks to the vice president for leading the anti-fraud task force with our Department of Justice partners and the Assistant Attorney General, Colin McDonnell. [32:19] And thanks to this great team here with Chairman Ferguson, with Dr. Oz, with our state and local partners. [32:24] It is an interagency lift. [32:26] As the secretary said, it is a whole-of-government approach, and the results we are delivering are truly historic. [32:33] We are here today to announce that just yesterday, FBI Minneapolis and our partners executed 17 search warrants in a single day to combine into a 26-count indictment. [32:45] Three of those search warrants were at a child care center. [32:48] Two of those search warrants were at the residences of the owners of those centers. [32:52] And two more of those search warrants were on the Early Intensive Development and Behavioral Intervention Unit here in Minnesota. [32:58] FBI Minneapolis and our interagency partners arrested four of the alleged fraudsters. [33:04] Faisal Ami, Aspen Associates, 11 counts of health care fraud, $8 million in intended loss. [33:11] Jama Mohammed, American Home Health Care, 6 counts of health care fraud, $3.27 million in intended loss. [33:19] Faiza Ahmed, Home Sweet Home, 8 counts of health care fraud, $10 million in intended fraud. [33:29] And Habiba Mohammed, Smart Therapy, 1 count of conspiracy to defraud the United States, totaling nearly $20 million in intended fraud and loss. [33:40] The subjects intended to defraud thousands of victims of over $41 million, money that was supposed to go to those in need, with our precious taxpayer dollars funding that bill. [33:51] Instead, they thought they could get away with their crimes. [33:55] They did not succeed because of this team and the president and the vice president's anti-fraud task force. [33:59] We are going to continue working with our state and local partners and the interagency to dismantle, disrupt, and take down fraud networks wherever they are. [34:08] In Minnesota, right here in St. Cloud, and everywhere else in the country. [34:11] The FBI's initiative under the vice president's FBI's Most Wanted Fraudsters list has also seen historic achievements. [34:17] In just four months after launching the list, we captured four of the Most Wanted Fraudsters on four separate continents who are on the run for nearly 5,000 days, who defrauded Americans of $2 billion. [34:31] There is no other administration in U.S. history that has set out on such an initiative. [34:35] We set out on it, we delivered for the American people, and we're going to continue manhunting fraudsters in every corner of the earth. [34:41] Right here in Minnesota, the Feeding Our Futures program has achieved historic success in terms of our investigation. [34:49] We have charged, thanks to our Department of Justice partners, 81 subjects, 70 have already been convicted, and their fraud value is over $1.5 billion. [34:59] These communities will no longer be ravaged by these fraudsters who come here to siphon away our precious dollars from our most needy, our senior citizens, and our children. [35:09] This FBI is proud to stand with the Trump administration and Vice President Vance's leadership and our interagency partners, and know this to any fraudsters who continue or think they will continue to defraud Americans. [35:21] This FBI will continue to follow the money, we will continue to work with our interagency partners, and we will put every last one of you in prison. [35:28] I'm truly thankful of FBI Minneapolis, our SAC, and the entire FBI squad in Minneapolis for me as your director. [35:36] Thank you for working tirelessly to this effort, and most importantly, thank you for being a partner in this team. [35:41] It is truly an interagency lift, and we are here to deliver these historic results. [35:46] It's a great day to be here in Minnesota. [35:48] It's a great day for America because the world knows we are not just watching fraud. [35:52] We're taking action and we're kicking butt. [35:54] And now it's my honor to introduce my dear friend and one of the champions of the anti-fraud movement, Dr. Oz. [36:04] In many ways, the war on fraud, our nation's war on fraud, started right here in Minnesota. [36:11] It's not an issue to be proud about, it's just a reality. [36:14] And we have been doing a lot of work in Minnesota, as we have in many other states, [36:18] because the problems we identified here are not unique to Minnesota, but they were particularly evident in Minnesota. [36:23] Since the inauguration of these programs that the president, again, assigned the vice president to run this anti-fraud task force, [36:30] we've embarked on an unprecedented quest to crush fraud and corruption here and nationwide. [36:36] The network of crime, the river of criminal activities, runs deeper than we ever thought possible. [36:42] And today, we're going to put another face to the kind of bad behavior that we're detecting and preventing. [36:47] Director Patel has agreed to help me. [36:49] This is Charmaine Meadows. [36:50] We want to put a name and a face to some of the things we're talking about. [36:54] Earlier this month, Charmaine was not just indicted, she was convicted by a federal jury for stealing over $3.5 million [37:02] for the now-defunct Minnesota Medicaid Housing Stabilization Services Program. [37:07] There's many cautionary tales here, so I'm going to spend a few moments to bring alive what we are doing at the national level [37:14] with one individual here in Minnesota. [37:16] This program, the Medicaid Housing Program, was designed to keep homeless and disabled seniors [37:21] who were suffering serious conditions, the exact kind of people you want to put your hand out and help back up again. [37:27] It was designed to help keep them out of institutions, which would also save taxpayer dollars. [37:32] And by helping them get comfortable and stable housing, it was supposed to achieve that. [37:35] But Charmaine and fraudsters like her don't want that to happen, and they act in ways that obscure the process that could have allowed it to occur. [37:45] The program was so overrun with corruption that it ballooned from being about a $2.5 million program [37:51] when it was first established in 2020, just five years, six years ago, to over $100 million in 2024. [37:59] That is a 40-fold increase in four years. [38:04] That's impossible to stand. [38:06] If you're even paying a slight bit of attention to what you're doing, you would never let that happen. [38:10] Unfortunately, it looks like that was the norm in many instances. [38:14] Minnesota shut the program down. [38:16] I'm going to say that again. [38:17] This housing stabilization program, which everyone on the stage thinks has merit, [38:21] was shut down because of fraudsters like Charmaine Meadows. [38:25] Now, she billed more hours than possible. [38:28] She hired untrained individuals overseas. [38:31] She did unspeakable things that broke the very integrity of this valuable program, [38:36] leading to it being completely removed. [38:39] It was no longer offering those services to worthy folks living in Minnesota who could benefit from them. [38:44] That is the price we pay. [38:46] For allowing Charmaine Meadows to not only say, this is her website, by the way. [38:50] I couldn't Photoshop this. [38:51] It's exactly what you see at proven, personalized, profitable. [38:54] That last word, of course, being the operative one. [38:56] Now, no one's getting housing services. [38:58] Let's get back to Charmaine. [38:59] She built a program for housing services that were never provided to vulnerable Medicaid beneficiaries [39:04] who could have desperately used them. [39:06] She built for services across multiple states and countries at a time. [39:09] At the same time, that is physically impossible to provide services all at once. [39:13] Her employees were doing more than 20 hours per day of work. [39:17] Again, she claims, not really happening. [39:20] And that, unfortunately, led to people even in the hospital being offered services, [39:25] which, again, not legal and physically impossible. [39:28] A telltale sign of fraud. [39:29] That's how we shut down people like Charmaine and her colleagues like hers. [39:33] We go after them, folks like Cash Patel, Treasury Secretary Bessett, and the law enforcement [39:38] team here in Minnesota and elsewhere went after her, and she's going to jail. [39:42] Now, that's the face of this problem. [39:44] Let's talk about how we actually deal with the issues. [39:46] Thank you. [39:47] The first major issue we have to do at Accomplished Nationwide is being able to revalidate providers. [39:53] That means, specifically, are you really allowed to do the service that you're being told you can do? [39:58] Many of these programs got out of kilter because unlicensed individuals in unmonitored settings [40:03] did unmeasured tasks that led to huge increases in taxes. [40:08] So revalidation asks, are you able and eligible to provide the services? [40:12] And to be eligible, by the way, you can't have been convicted as a felon. [40:16] You must be licensed in the state here in Minnesota, in this case, to own a business. [40:20] You've got to pass inspections. [40:21] You have to avoid being fired from Medicare or Medicaid in the past. [40:25] You cannot have been excluded from the programs. [40:27] We asked Minnesota to revalidate all of the high-risk providers here in Minnesota, 14 categories, [40:35] 30 percent, almost one in three of all the people providing services in Minnesota could [40:40] not be revalidated. [40:42] I'll say that again. [40:43] One in three people, roughly, who are providing services were not allowed to provide services. [40:47] That degree of fraud, again, you have to purposely be averting your glance to allow that to happen. [40:53] That is similar to what we're seeing in places like New York around social adult daycare. [40:58] And here in Minnesota, 50 percent of people in social adult daycare were not allowed to [41:03] provide that service. [41:04] I have to ask the bigger question. [41:05] Should we be using federal tax dollars to pay people to play mahjong and card games as [41:10] they hang out in clubhouses for crooks? [41:13] An issue for a separate day, perhaps, but one that comes to mind here. [41:17] The second big thing we did was start working closely with Treasury. [41:21] And I want to applaud Secretary Besson for being open to thoughts and, in fact, proactively [41:25] helping us identify the real issue here, which is we are catching their Charmains of the world. [41:30] They're low-level street operators. [41:33] They're real capos. [41:34] They're real people at the top of the pyramid. [41:35] They keep getting away with this. [41:37] We need to go upstream to capture those folks. [41:40] We don't want the foot soldiers. [41:41] We want the people who hired the foot soldiers, the ones who hired them. [41:43] The Department of Treasury is the raft that will take us there. [41:47] I'm excited to announce that earlier this month, CMS signed a memorandum of understanding [41:51] with Treasury that will help figure out who the real villains are to help us track where [41:55] the money is going. [41:56] It's a formal cooperation between our agencies. [41:58] Again, the President and Vice President have insisted on this. [42:01] It's all a government effort, and this will allow us for the first time to collaborate in [42:05] ways never before possible, at least at scale. [42:08] Secretary Besson's team of forensic accountants are going to help us follow the money, and they're [42:12] we're using the FinCEN program that he mentioned earlier, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, [42:17] and they're allowing us to use cross-referencing of enrollment records, of banking details, [42:22] of OIG, Office Inspector General, hotline tips, and the fraud prevention system in general. [42:28] So think of the godfather. [42:29] The godfather, you've got all these street operators doing all kinds of illicit activities, [42:33] but the don, Don Corleone, he's actually taking the money at the top of the pyramid and [42:38] siphoning it off. [42:39] That's how the multinational criminal organizations get their money. [42:43] That's why they're in America, because during COVID, we introduced the possibility of defrauding [42:47] the federal government at scale, especially in health care services, and they have taken [42:51] advantage of it. [42:52] So we're moving on to the big boys, and the Secretary just yesterday inaugurated a closer [42:57] relationship with the IRS, which is going to be a very valuable asset, because if people [43:03] are lowly enough to steal from the poor, if criminals take from the poor, they're almost [43:08] certainly not paying their taxes. [43:10] And so by passing that information to the IRS, and the IRS, I have learned, has 2,900 gun-carrying [43:16] accountants, but they have a lot of accountants as well as the gun-carrying ones, they have [43:20] an enforcement arm, the criminal investigation arm, that they are working closely with us to [43:24] identify individuals. [43:25] Because remember, these criminals, they don't steal the money without putting it somewhere. [43:30] They don't declare that money, because if you steal the money, you're not paying your [43:32] taxes, but you do sign your tax return. [43:35] So we don't have to wait for all the things that normally we have to fulfill in order to [43:39] take action. [43:40] The IRS has separate ability to enforce the law to prevent these financial scams, as well [43:46] as the tax evasion that takes place. [43:48] This connects all the different points together that allows us to help figure out exactly how [43:53] the money is being stolen from the poor. [43:55] And just recently, this month, we connected the dots in California with hospice. [44:01] We have several hospices that we knew were sending the same money that they were stealing [44:05] to one bank account. [44:06] We found that bank account had many other hospices that were pushing money into it as well. [44:11] It turned out it was one big web, one network of criminals, and we took the whole thing down [44:15] by no longer paying. [44:17] And as soon as these criminals stop making money, they run away. [44:20] This all-government approach works because we have close personal relationships as well [44:23] as working relationships. [44:25] Secretary Besson, thank you very much for standing up for the needs for us to work together as [44:29] a team and breaking down siloed barriers historically that have held us apart. [44:32] Now, let me introduce another good friend, Colin McDonald. [44:35] He's the Assistant Attorney General for Fraud Enforcement, who's done a yeoman's job pulling [44:39] together so many disparate pieces in the quilt of law enforcement in this great nation. [44:43] Colin. [44:48] Thank you, Dr. Oz. [44:49] One hundred and sixty-two days ago, this team of public servants announced the largest fraud [44:55] takedown in Minnesota history. [44:56] Fifteen new defendants charged with federal felonies in schemes reaching more than 90 million [45:03] in fraud. [45:04] We said then that those charges were just the beginning of our work to root out rampant fraud [45:10] in Minnesota. [45:12] And we meant it. [45:14] Today, we're announcing just a sliver of the immense work underway to restore the rule of [45:20] law, safeguard taxpayer dollars, protect the vulnerable, and punish wrongdoers in Minnesota. [45:28] Just this week alone, five defendants have been charged with health care fraud offenses [45:33] in Medicaid fraud schemes involving more than 48 million dollars in intended loss, including [45:39] 29 million in schemes that have been uncovered for the first time. [45:44] This follows multiple defendants charged with SNAP benefits fraud last week. [45:49] And yesterday, in separate, ongoing criminal investigations, the FBI and our law enforcement partners executed [45:56] numerous search warrants in a coordinated regional operation. [46:01] The cases that we are prosecuting involve fraudsters targeting tax dollars meant to help the most [46:08] vulnerable Americans. [46:10] We are also activating all enforcement tools to recover stolen money. [46:16] Last week, we filed a civil forfeiture complaint seeking to forfeit three properties in Minneapolis [46:21] valued at approximately $519,000 allegedly purchased with proceeds from a fraud scheme [46:29] that took money meant to feed our children. [46:33] And our prosecutors and agents are not only charging new cases, they are actively proving [46:39] them in court and ensuring real consequences for wrongdoers. [46:44] Already this month, two fraud defendants have been convicted at trial for their fraud schemes, [46:50] including one for defrauding a Minnesota housing program designed to help secure housing for [46:56] the homeless. [46:57] The state of Minnesota was forced to shut down that program after costs skyrocketed from $2.5 [47:05] million to $107 million in just four years. [47:10] That was not supply and demand. [47:12] That was fraud. [47:13] And as Dr. Oz mentioned, that program no longer exists because the fraudsters drained it dry. [47:19] And those homeless who needed that help no longer have that program because of fraudsters. [47:26] As for prison sentences, two days ago, Salim Saeed was sentenced to 30 years imprisonment for [47:34] his role in the Feeding Our Future fraud scheme. [47:38] He was responsible for more than $44 million in fraud proceeds and used the money to fund [47:43] his luxury lifestyle, including vehicles and a luxury home. [47:49] Just this morning, today, Saeed Farah was sentenced to 78 months in prison for his role in a scheme [47:57] to bribe a juror during his prior fraud trial with $2,000 in cash delivered to the jurors home. [48:07] That is the fraud that we are confronting in this district in the state of Minnesota. [48:14] All told, over roughly the past 115 days, 14 fraud defendants in Minnesota have been sentenced [48:21] to a combined total of 988 months in prison. [48:26] That is over 82 years of prison time for fraud crimes in this state. [48:31] And that does not count the 40-year sentence imposed for a Feeding Our Future's defendant [48:36] earlier this year. [48:39] Ladies and gentlemen, that is the new normal. [48:42] And fraudsters here should know it. [48:45] Now these results do not happen automatically. [48:48] They require earnest, dedicated, experienced, talented public servants to do the work, like [48:55] all of the individuals on the stage here with me. [48:58] I specifically commend U.S. Attorney Dan Rosen, First Assistant U.S. Attorney Joe Tarab, the [49:05] prosecutors in the Minnesota U.S. Attorney's Office, and the prosecutors from the Fraud Division [49:10] who have come from all over the country to do this important work here in Minnesota. [49:15] They've come from Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey, North Carolina, Virginia, Texas, and other [49:21] places from America to confront the fraud epidemic here in Minnesota. [49:26] They are sacrificing time with their families and children back home to do the work of justice [49:32] here in Minnesota. [49:35] We are not doing this work alone. [49:36] We are working hand-in-hand with the talented and dedicated agents and analysts with the [49:42] FBI, IRS-CI, HSI, HHS-OIG, the Postal Inspection Service, USDA-OIG, VA-OIG, and other law enforcement [49:53] partners to do this work. [49:55] And I thank them all. [49:57] Let me be clear. [49:59] This is still the beginning of our work in Minnesota. [50:03] We will be here for as long as it takes to punish the wrongdoers in Minnesota, to deter [50:10] additional criminal conduct, and restore the public's confidence in the rule of law. [50:16] And now it's my honor to welcome Chairman Andrew Ferguson to the podium. [50:20] Thank you, Colin. [50:27] I think it's important to focus on something Colin said at the end when he listed how many [50:31] agencies are involved with this. [50:33] There are some huge names that you see on TV all the time up here that have done anti-fraud [50:38] work. [50:39] It takes thousands of prosecutors who you can't see up here, but who we work with every day. [50:46] Thousands of analysts within the agencies to figure out how the fraud works to keep the [50:50] money in the agency and send it to the right people, not the gangsters. [50:56] Thousands of law enforcement agents, not just from the FBI, the FBI, which has done incredible [51:00] work here in the United States and also has chased fraudsters who committed billions of dollars [51:05] worth of fraud to every corner of the planet to bring them home and face American justice. [51:10] It's law enforcement officers from HSI, from IRSCI, from the inspector general's offices [51:16] of half a dozen agencies that are spending thousands and thousands of man hours to chase [51:22] down the fraudsters and bring them to justice. [51:25] President Trump said he wanted a whole of government effort. [51:28] And he got it in a way that has not been replicated before in American history. [51:32] The law enforcement arms of every part of the government are aimed squarely at the fraudsters. [51:38] We've heard a lot about the specific things that are being done in Minnesota and around [51:41] the country today. [51:42] I just want to step back and explain why this matters. [51:46] Every American is a victim of fraud because all of us pay into a system that is being robbed [51:52] and pirated by gangsters. [51:55] But it isn't just us as taxpayers that are victims here. [51:59] Fraud injures real people in the real world in a unique way. [52:02] We heard from Colin and from Dr. Oz how fraud ended a housing stabilization program here. [52:08] That means that victims who needed help veterans who needed help with housing in Minnesota are [52:13] going without it because fraudsters decide to use it as a piggy bank. [52:18] DHS uncovered massive skin substitute schemes where people were performing surgeries, unnecessary [52:25] surgeries on elderly Americans in order to make billions and billions of dollars. [52:30] DHS uncovered fraudulent truck driver licenses all throughout the country where illegal immigrants [52:37] were getting truck drivers licenses and then killing and maiming Americans on the road. [52:43] fraud doesn't just hurt us all as taxpayers. [52:45] It hurts Americans in the real world every single day. [52:49] That is why this fight matters. [52:51] The second reason that this fight matters is this system won't work. [52:55] Our benefit system won't work. [52:57] Our government won't work unless Americans have renewed trust in each other and in their [53:03] government. [53:04] Every morning Americans wake up, go to work and spend hours of their day working for the government. [53:11] Money that never enters their hands goes to the federal government to fund these programs. [53:16] And we have all agreed, all American citizens have agreed amongst each other that we're going [53:21] to fund these programs to help our families, our friends, and our neighbors in need. [53:26] How can we look American citizens in the eye and ask them to keep paying for these programs [53:32] when for four years these programs were laid bare for pirates to rob to the tunes of hundreds [53:38] of billions of dollars to take the money out of the pockets of American citizens, to take [53:44] food out of the mouths of American children, to live a life of luxury? [53:49] We can't. [53:50] This system won't survive. [53:52] The only way it survives is by pursuing the vision that President Trump laid out when he [53:57] founded this task force and that the Vice President has pursued with unbelievable vigor, [54:02] which is the fraud stops. [54:05] Money stays in the agency so that it goes to the people we've agreed we are actually going [54:09] to help. [54:10] And when it does get out, Colin and Cash and the teams of prosecutors and law enforcement [54:16] officers from every part of the federal government chase them to the ends of the earth and bring [54:21] them to justice. [54:22] If we don't do this, if we don't win this fight, social trust will continue to degrade in [54:29] this country, trust in government will continue to degrade and these programs won't survive. [54:34] This fight is about saving the American system from the worst types of actors, fraudsters, [54:40] pirates, and gangsters, and restoring America for Americans. [54:44] For four years, Minnesota was laid bare to fraud and the federal government looked the other [54:50] way. [54:51] Pirates and gangsters and thugs funded luxury lifestyles by taking money out of the pockets [54:56] of hardworking American citizens. [55:00] President Trump, Vice President Vance, and Secretary Besant have a very clear message [55:04] for all of them. [55:05] Enough is enough. [55:07] We are putting American citizens first, just as the President promised in his election and [55:13] just as we have tried to do every single day. [55:16] With that, I'll turn it back over to Secretary Besant. [55:22] Good. [55:23] And I want to thank all of you. [55:25] I think we can see that the results, while incomplete, they are, have been rapid, fulsome, [55:33] and in many cases, the consequences severe. [55:36] So I'd be happy to answer any questions. [55:38] Thank you, Mr. Secretary. [55:41] The first question. [55:53] Hello. [55:54] Throughout the last year or so, President Trump has mentioned that there was billions and billions [56:00] of dollars of fraud here, but the fraud that's been uncovered so far is well under that figure. [56:05] I think 19 billion was the total. [56:08] When are you going to see that really high figures that's been mentioned before? [56:11] Well, as we can see, it's accelerating every day. [56:17] And whether it's the 500,000, the several million, it will continue to add up. [56:26] And as we heard today, the real tragedy is that these programs are being shut down. [56:33] I was at a round table here in January, and I heard from two parents who the program for [56:40] autistic children, their children needed and attended, had been shut down. [56:45] So I think that as we work on this every day, that we are uncovering more. [56:52] And as we heard earlier, we are getting the street-level capos, and we expect over the [56:58] coming weeks and months to secure arrest, verdicts, and recoveries from the kingpins. [57:05] Thank you, Matt. [57:20] Yep. [57:21] Yep. [57:22] I'm curious if you were able to touch on why you all picked St. Cloud as the location today. [57:26] We're aware of two raids down in the Twin Cities, if you can touch on that. [57:32] We were invited here. [57:35] The local assistant U.S. attorney suggested that we come here. [57:41] The government here is doing their best. [57:45] And again, this is the center of the fraudulent activity is Minneapolis-St. Paul. [57:54] But this is all over the entire state. [57:57] The Waltz administration has been woefully negligent and turned a blind eye. [58:02] So every citizen of Minnesota is a victim. [58:07] Every town and city, the people are being defrauded. [58:11] Thank you. [58:27] That was also my question. [58:28] Are any of these defendants specifically in St. Cloud or any of these businesses that you're [58:33] targeting? [58:34] We're not going to talk about ongoing investigations, but the fact that we are here should make you [58:43] think that the greater region and the greater area here that the task force is very interested [58:52] in what's going on in this area. [58:59] Thank you. [59:00] The administration has declared war on waste and fraud. [59:04] Could you explain the $420 million overpayment for a prison in Appleton, Minnesota when the [59:11] company offered it to the state of Minnesota for $75 million? [59:14] Yeah. [59:15] I don't know anything about that. [59:19] What we are here to do is to prosecute criminal fraud. [59:23] And any question like that, that deflects away from it, I think is a waste of our time. [59:28] Thanks. [59:30] So yesterday, Senate Democrats put out a report that accused CMS of targeting blue states with [59:42] this task force. [59:44] They pointed out some $12.4 billion in fraud in Florida, significant fraud, $5 to $10 billion [59:52] a year in Texas. [59:53] So I'm wondering if CMS feels like they're holding other states, red states, purple states [59:59] to the same standards as they're holding Minnesota. [1:00:02] When I speak to Dr. Oz, he tells me that what's going on in his home state of Florida, [1:00:08] that there is substantial fraud going on there, many of it, the offshore, much of it in the [1:00:15] medical equipment industry. [1:00:17] So again, the Democrats having let this happen on their watch, whether it's here or in the [1:00:23] other states, they are trying to deflect. [1:00:27] And it's going on everywhere, and we're going to track them down. [1:00:31] But I can tell you that the guardrails tend to be loosest in the Democratic states. [1:00:46] This kind of goes along the same lines as maybe some of the other questions about why you came [1:00:49] to St. Cloud or Minnesota. [1:00:51] But per capita, I was wondering, because we can throw big numbers out, Texas, big state, [1:00:55] Florida, big state. [1:00:56] Minnesota doesn't have the same population. [1:00:58] Per capita, has it been that much worse here than other states? [1:01:01] Is that maybe why we're here, or can you talk a little bit about per capita, where it's been [1:01:05] the worst? [1:01:06] Well, I would say that we are at ground zero for per capita, given the population of Minnesota, [1:01:13] Minnesota and this fraud that we've seen. [1:01:16] And it's ongoing. [1:01:18] And the kind of egregious nature of this and the lack of oversight from the AG's office [1:01:25] and from the Walt's administration is shocking. [1:01:29] So it is substantial. [1:01:32] It is heartbreaking in many ways because, as we were talking about, whether it's a program [1:01:38] for the homeless, the one where I saw the parents for autistic children, and it is prevalent. [1:01:45] So I would say that Minnesota, unfortunately, because of the lack of oversight, likely has, [1:01:52] as a percent of the dollars, one of the largest in the country. [1:02:04] You mentioned earlier that there was offshore accounts being redistributing money. [1:02:12] Could you give us a list of some of those countries? [1:02:15] Well, I can't give a list of the countries. [1:02:18] I will tell you that there is a nexus around Somalia and terrorist organizations associated [1:02:26] there. [1:02:27] But unfortunately, we at Treasury follow the money, and we can see that many other countries [1:02:34] are offshore laundries. [1:02:36] And what we do at Treasury is we follow the money, and we are attempting to recover it for [1:02:41] the U.S. government. [1:02:42] But more importantly, to break this recycling that seems to go on, that leaves Minneapolis, [1:02:50] ends up offshore, and then some of it finds its way back here. [1:02:53] Hi. [1:02:54] I'm just wondering if the FBI is planning any more search warrant executions ahead of the [1:03:04] election or any other activity? [1:03:06] I'll leave that to the director. [1:03:10] Thanks, Secretary. [1:03:12] And the FBI will, with our partners at the Department of Justice, execute search warrants [1:03:16] based on facts on the law in a timely fashion upon proper adjudication by the Attorney General's [1:03:22] office. [1:03:23] Thank you. [1:03:26] Well, I want to thank you all for coming here today. [1:03:28] We can see the magnitude of the problem. [1:03:30] We can see that this task force is working on a solution. [1:03:33] I was with Vice President Vance this morning. [1:03:36] He was unable to make it today. [1:03:38] And he and I were going through each of the departments. [1:03:42] And I will tell you that this task force is the most fulsome cross-government agency that [1:03:49] I have seen at my time in government. [1:03:51] So thank you all.