Trump officials announce fraud crackdown at St. Cloud press conference

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and FBI Director Kash Patel travelled to St. Cloud, Minnesota, to announce fraud findings. The event is linked to a task force targeting government social service fraud.

Senior Trump officials gather in St. Cloud for fraud announcement

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and FBI Director Kash Patel joined other senior Trump administration officials in St. Cloud, Minnesota, on Friday for what mprnews.org reports was a formal fraud announcement connected to government social service programmes.

Also present were Dr. Mehmet Oz, administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, and Federal Trade Commission Chair Andrew Ferguson, who serves as vice chair of the White House Task Force to Eliminate Fraud. Vice President JD Vance, who chairs the task force, had been scheduled to attend but cancelled on Thursday evening.

President Donald Trump established the task force in March, citing alleged fraud in Minnesota's social services sector. Last week, the administration launched a national programme offering up to $25 million in rewards to whistleblowers who report government fraud.

Minnesota has been a focal point of these investigations. Since 2022, state and federal prosecutors have charged more than 100 people with defrauding government social service programmes, with a substantial portion of those cases tied to the Feeding Our Future scheme.

The Trump administration previously pointed to fraud as a justification for deploying thousands of federal immigration agents into Minnesota last winter. However, none of those arrested during the operation were subsequently charged with fraud-related offences.

The precise nature of Friday's announcement had not been disclosed in advance. The story was still developing at the time of publication.

Source: Google News MT — Crime (en)