Treasury flags $8B in suspicious foreign-directed transfers through US money services firms

Treasury says it has identified more than $8 billion in potentially fraudulent cross-border wire payments sent from 2021 to 2025 through US money services businesses at the direction of foreign agents. The department says the findings have prompted investigations, FBI search warrants and new guidance for banks, amid a wider US government effort to pursue suspected fraud and prevent funds from reaching illicit groups.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said nearly $190 million linked to overseas fraud had been stopped and more than $100 million returned to US victims. He also cited 115 arrests and charges, 75 convictions and nearly 3,000 subpoenas in Minnesota, while the new notice asks banks to examine nonprofit donors, funding and affiliations for signs of sham charities, charity-related fraud or insider embezzlement. The supplied article text ends mid-sentence.