WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - The U.S. Department of the Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, or FinCEN, has issued an Advisory urging financial institutions to be vigilant about fraud schemes targeting government health care benefit programs such as Medicare and Medicaid. This follows Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent's trip to Minnesota earlier this year, where he announced numerous steps that Treasury is implementing to detect and stop government benefits fraud across the country.
Monday, FinCEN issued a proposed rule paving the way to pay whistle-blowers for actionable tips, further protecting the U.S. financial system from illicit activity.
'President Trump has been clear that Americans have a right to know that their tax dollars are not being used to commit fraud,' said Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent. '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.'
FinCEN's Advisory provides financial institutions with an overview of how fraudsters, organized crime groups, and increasingly, transnational criminal organizations are targeting government health care benefit programs. It also highlights money laundering typologies and red flag indicators to help financial institutions identify and report suspicious activity. In the Advisory, FinCen urged financial institutions to voluntarily report suspicious activity to it and immediately notify the police about such activity.
Financial institutions filed 20 percent more suspicious activity reports related to health care in 2025 than in 2024, the Treasury said inb a press release. However, this reporting likely represents only a small fraction of the illicit activity connected to health care fraud in the United States, it added.
As Secretary Bessent announced in Minnesota, Treasury will pay eligible whistle-blowers for actionable tips related to fraud, money laundering, sanctions violations, and certain other national security laws. Monday, FinCEN issued a proposed rule to fully implement its whistle-blower program, strengthening efforts to protect the U.S. financial system from illicit activity. The rule proposes procedures for whistle-blowers to provide information to FinCEN about potential violations. It also sets forth eligibility criteria for issuing awards and adjudicating award applications, as well as protections for whistle-blowers that provide information to FinCEN.
Awards to eligible whistle-blowers will range from 10 to 30 percent of monetary penalties resulting from qualifying enforcement actions.
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