Minnesota Banks Must Continue Flagging Overseas Transactions Over $3,000

HENNEPIN COUNTY, MN — Banks and money transmitters in Hennepin and Ramsey counties are on the hook for another six months of extra paperwork.

The U.S. Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network renewed an order Aug. 7 requiring those institutions to report international money transfers of $3,000 or more, a tool investigators say has helped them track down stolen government benefits money leaving the country.

Federal officials say fraud rings have siphoned billions of dollars meant for Minnesotans who are homeless, food insecure or disabled, and that some of that money has been laundered overseas.

"Treasury promised to follow the money, and that is exactly what we are doing," Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement. "We will continue to give law enforcement critical tools to trace criminal networks that siphon taxpayer dollars and move them overseas. The Trump Administration will not allow criminals to profit from programs intended to help vulnerable Americans."

The order traces back to Jan. 9, when Bessent stood in the Twin Cities and laid the fraud at the feet of Minnesota's governor.

Under Tim Walz, Bessent said, welfare fraud had spiraled out of control, and billions of dollars meant to feed hungry kids and house disabled seniors ended up benefiting Somali fraud rings instead.

That same day, Treasury rolled out a wider crackdown: investigation notices to four Minnesota money-services businesses, an IRS audit of financial institutions tied to the laundering, and a FinCEN alert warning banks to watch for fraud connected to federal child nutrition programs, which the agency says has cost at least $300 million.

The reporting requirement itself is narrow but specific. Banks and money transmitters with an office in Hennepin or Ramsey County have to flag transfers of $3,000 or more headed to people or banks outside the U.S.

The rule first took effect Feb. 12 and was set to lapse Aug. 10. Instead, it rolls straight into another 180 days starting Aug. 11, with no gap in coverage. A February carve-out that spares some banks from reporting on certain low-risk originators stays in place.