The Treasury Department unveiled a proposal that rewards whistleblowers for reporting suspected fraudulent schemes, as part of the Trump administration’s crackdown on illicit financial activity.
The agency’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network submitted a rule that would reward tipsters with up to 30% of the fines imposed on criminals, according to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. Whistleblowers whose tips lead to a successful enforcement action by the Treasury or the Department of Justice would receive between 10% and 30% of fines collected from criminals.
“President [Donald] Trump has been clear that Americans have a right to know that their tax dollars are not being used to commit fraud,” Bessent said Monday. “Under President Trump’s leadership, Treasury will continue to find and disrupt fraud schemes wherever they exist, and we will work with our law enforcement partners to hold perpetrators to account.”
The development comes after sweeping fraud schemes targeting federal and state welfare programs in Minnesota, which were uncovered last fall, prompting government investigations and heightened federal scrutiny of similar suspected fraud operations across the country. Federal prosecutors have said that in Minnesota, Medicaid fraud alone has likely cost taxpayers $9 billion.
Bessent visited the state in early January, calling it “ground zero for what may be one of the most egregious welfare scams in our nation’s history to date.”
“I’m here this week to signal the U.S. Treasury’s unwavering commitment to recovering stolen funds, prosecuting fraudulent criminals, preventing scandals like this from ever happening again, and investigating similar schemes, state by state,” he said at an Economic Club of Minnesota event.
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At the time, Bessent previewed the new tipster award program and outlined a number of ways the Treasury Department is going after fraudsters. A new IRS task force charged with investigating financial institutions that facilitate suspicious wire transfers is another initiative Bessent said would help target criminal activity.
“Minnesota is going to be the protocols, procedures, investigative techniques, and collaboration. Minnesota is going to be the genesis for a national rollout,” the treasury secretary promised. “Treasury will deploy all tools to bring an end to this egregious, unchecked fraud and hold perpetrators to account.”
