Bessent Calls Walz-Era Fraud 'Defining Legacy' at St. Cloud Event

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent took the Trump administration’s fight against benefits fraud to St. Cloud, Minnesota, on Friday, telling reporters that the fraud that grew under Gov. Tim Walz is the “defining legacy” of his administration, according to video of his remarks posted on X.

In that clip, Bessent said the “industrial-scale fraud” that Walz “shamefully and perhaps knowingly allowed to fester” will be what his tenure is remembered for. Walz’s office had not responded to the remarks in the reports reviewed by Daily Beltway.

JUST IN: Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announces a new fraud-reporting initiative offering rewards of up to $30,000.

Americans can report fraud at https://t.co/Vvlz6zcHgM.

"Under President Trump and Vice President Vance’s leadership, Treasury stopped nearly $190 million in… pic.twitter.com/X1vNVKaxKP

— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) October 30, 2026

Bessent was joined by FBI Director Kash Patel, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz and other senior officials, according to the Treasury Department and FOX 9 Minneapolis-St. Paul. Vice President JD Vance had been scheduled to attend but canceled Thursday evening, FOX 9 reported. KSTP, citing ABC News, said a source attributed the change to scheduling.

Search warrants and arrests

Bessent and Patel announced that federal agents executed 17 search warrants in Minneapolis this week, resulting in four arrests tied to millions of dollars in allegedly fraudulent payments, Just the News reported. Several of the warrants were linked to child care facilities and their owners, according to the outlet.

The event came one day after state and federal agents searched two Twin Cities autism-services providers, Iska Inc. in St. Louis Park and Bright Horizon Therapy Center in Edina, according to a Thursday release from Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison’s office. Ellison’s office said both businesses provide Medicaid-funded autism services and are under investigation for Medicaid fraud. No charges against either business were announced in that release.

The numbers

In a Treasury press release issued Friday, Bessent said Treasury “stopped nearly $190 million in funds tied to overseas fraud and returned more than $100 million to U.S. victims” under President Trump and Vice President Vance. “When greed meets negligence, the American people suffer,” Bessent said in the release.

Since January 2025, Bessent said, the administration has identified $260 billion in fraud and is preventing as much as $70 billion a year from going to fraudulent recipients, Just the News reported. In video of his remarks posted on X, Bessent said the federal effort in Minnesota has produced 115 people arrested and charged, 75 convictions and nearly 3,000 subpoenas.

The Treasury release also noted that Salim Said, a co-conspirator in the Feeding Our Future child nutrition scheme, was sentenced this week to 30 years in federal prison. The release said Said was convicted at trial on 21 counts tied to a $49 million scheme.

Paying whistleblowers

Bessent also promoted the Fraud Whistleblower Incentive Program, a $25 million fund, according to Just the News. The Justice Department said when it announced the program on Oct. 20 that it pays $10,000 to $30,000 for tips that lead to criminal charges, with priority on hospice, home health care, day care and special services fraud. Tips can be submitted at america.gov/fraud, according to the department.

“Speaking up has long carried cost for whistleblowers. Now, under President Trump, it can offer a reward,” Bessent said, according to Just the News.

Minnesota officials have pushed back on the idea that the state ignored the problem. Ellison’s office said its Medicaid Fraud Control Unit has secured 358 convictions since 2019, and that Walz signed the Medical Assistance Protection Act in May to give the unit new tools.

For taxpayers, the bigger question is how much of the money is ever recovered. The administration’s own figures put the scale of the problem in the billions, and Friday’s message from St. Cloud was that the federal government does not plan to let up before Election Day or after it.

Sources

• U.S. Department of the Treasury press release, Oct. 30, 2026
• Just the News, “Bessent, Patel announce fraud-related arrests in Minneapolis”
• FOX 9 Minneapolis-St. Paul
• KSTP 5 Eyewitness News
• Minnesota Attorney General’s Office release, Oct. 29, 2026
• U.S. Department of Justice, WHIP announcement, Oct. 20, 2026
• Video of Bessent’s remarks posted on X by @EricLDaugh and @GuntherEagleman

Reporting by Daily Beltway.