In a no-holds-barred appearance on CBS’s Face the Nation Sunday morning, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent revealed that the Treasury Department is actively probing if the massive fraud operation involving Somali immigrants in Minnesota has potential ties to terrorism.
Bessent also asserted that Somalis who move to the U.S. have to “learn not to defraud the American people.”
The scheme, which siphoned off more than $1 billion in taxpayer dollars, has already been linked to donations to prominent Democrats in the state, including Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, Representative Ilhan Omar, and Attorney General Keith Ellison.
Bessent, who also serves as acting IRS commissioner, emphasized that the fraud was uncovered by the IRS Criminal Investigation Unit, not by state officials.
“To be clear, the initial fraud that was discovered by the IRS, for which I’m the acting commissioner, it was discovered by IRS Criminal Investigation Unit,” Bessent said. “This was not endogenous that the state of Minnesota decided. We had to go in and clean up the mess for them, and this is part of the continued cleanup.”
Bessent continued, “A lot of money has been transferred from the individuals who committed this fraud, including those who donated to the governor, donated to representative Omar and to AG Ellison. They have been transferred to something called MBSs… these are Money Bureau Services, and they are wire transfer organizations that are outside the regulated banking system. And that money has gone overseas, and we are tracking that, both to the Middle East and to Somalia, to see what the uses of that have been.”
Host Margaret Brennan replied, “But you have no evidence of that money being used to fuel terrorism at this point — which is what some conservative writers are alleging.”
“That’s why it’s an investigation,” Bessent said. “We started it last week. We will see where it goes.”
The probe follows a recent New York Times report exposing the billion-dollar scam being run by the Somali community.
The Minnesota Somali community’s scheme centered around the nonprofit Feeding Our Future, siphoned off approximately $250 million in federal taxpayer funds intended to feed children during the COVID-19 pandemic, but were instead used for luxury purchases like mansions and high-end shopping sprees.
The total fraud, including state payments, may reach $1 billion.
Bessent didn’t mince words about the broader implications for immigrants involved in such schemes.
“When you come to this country, you gotta learn which side of the road to drive on, you gotta learn to stop at stop signs, and you gotta learn not to defraud the American people,” Bessent said.
WATCH:
Secretary Bessent goes toe-to-toe with Margaret Brennan over the exploding Somali fraud scandal in Minnesota.
Bessent revealed that Treasury is now tracking money that was moved out of the U.S. to the Middle East and Somalia — by individuals tied to the scheme.
And he ended his… pic.twitter.com/uZOBJoWgnt
— Overton (@overton_news) December 7, 2025
As the Gateway Pundit reported last week, several high-profile Minnesota Democrats have been linked to campaign donations totaling over $53,000 from individuals involved in the Somali scams, one of the largest welfare fraud scandals in U.S. history.
The post Trump’s Treasury Secretary Says Somali Migrants ‘Gotta Learn Not to Defraud the American People,’ as Somali Fraud Scheme Being Probed for Terrorism Links (VIDEO) appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.