Top Trump Officials Bring War on Fraud Announcement to St. Cloud

(KNSI) – Some of the top federal officials are in St. Cloud on Friday to make an announcement as part of what the Trump administration calls its War on Fraud.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is being joined by FBI Director Kash Patel, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz and Federal Trade Commission Chairman Andrew Ferguson in the Granite City.

Under Secretary of the Treasury for International Affairs Erin Browne spoke with KNSI just hours before the event, stressing that the fraud cases involve public money meant for vulnerable children, families facing food insecurity, people with disabilities and those needing housing help.

“And they took those resources, diverted them from legitimate beneficiaries and sent them to either line their own pockets or send them abroad.”

Browne says Bessent is returning to Minnesota after pledging in January that Treasury would follow the money, help recover stolen funds and support law enforcement. She says that work has since stopped billions of dollars in annual payments from leaving the state.

When asked whether taxpayers will ever see any of that money again, Browne said some of it has already been recovered.

“We have clawed back money. We have recovered funds, and we’ve also diverted and stopped funds from going out the door and being diverted away from the citizens of Minnesota.”

Each agency has a role, according to Browne, with Treasury tracking suspicious money flows, the FBI handling criminal investigations, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services adding safeguards to federal health care programs and the FTC protecting consumers. She says Assistant Attorney General Colin McDonald is also expected to take part.

Browne didn’t want to get ahead of her boss, saying Bessent will share more details on recovered money and the results of the investigation during Friday’s announcement scheduled for 1:00 p.m. She added the effort isn’t over and encouraged anyone with information about fraud to report it through the Treasury Department’s website by clicking here.

The press conference comes after recent raids on autism centers investigators suspect of fraud and the sentencing of a leader in the Feeding Our Future scheme, which federal prosecutors have called the largest pandemic-era fraud case in the nation. Prosecutors say more than $250 million was stolen.

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