Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is leading the charge to focus on Minneapolis, Minnesota Somali fraud rings for targeted regional actions. The IRS Criminal Investigations division has been dispatched to focus on the Minneapolis region to identify fraudulent use of public assistance services, combined with the abuse of federal taxpayer funds.
In a remarkable approach, Secretary Bessent announced during a Fox News interview that a regional targeting effort is now underway that will block anyone who receives public assistance from sending money overseas (remittances to foreign countries). This is not a fee or tax on the remittance, or financial transaction; this is a complete block of their ability to send money overseas. Anyone receiving public assistance will not be able to send money to foreign lands.
Yes, it seems like this is initially going to be subject to the honest admission of the money sender. However, with the IRS reviewing each transfer and cross referencing to public assistance records anyone who attempts to work around this regulation will be subject to federal laws on financial fraud, wire service fraud and potentially money laundering. WATCH:
The interagency focus will eventually go nationwide, as with the new USAO position that focuses on public assistance fraud; but for now, that focused effort will target Minnesota. Minneapolis will be the beta test for a national rollout.
All of the money service businesses in the region will now be reviewed and all financial transactions of $3,000 will be required to have an accompanying Suspicious Activity Report (SAR). With DHS, FBI and now IRS investigators focused exclusively on the two counties involved in the Somali fraud rings, the fraudsters will be identified and prosecuted.
Another Ethnic Tribal Criminal Organization involved in fraud;
Notoriously fraudulent NY health program lost $1.2 billion to scammers and middlemen: ‘Minnesota multiplied by 10’
https://nypost.com/2026/01/08/us-news/nys-fraudulent-cdpap-program-lost-1-2-billion-to-scammers-and-mismanagement/
MN is not even in the top ten. These states are the highest elected democrat representation and likely more fraud per capita than MN…
I’m from Maryland and I approve Mrs. Sunshine’s message!
👍 👍
😎
SAME HERE!!!!
Lived in DE for over 40 years and between the Dems, the Bite Me’s and Chris Coons it has to be near the top.
Identifying democRat Fraud is vital, and so is rinoRat Fraud, take a look at GA where Both Rats have/are Feasting on the $$$.
Governor “Davos” Kemp along with Atty Gen “Clueless” Carr and the Kingfish rinoRatsburger threw the 2020 sElection to O’biden’s Coup regime.
Probably about the $$$ and Illegals to be employed in GA Corps.
Agreed. I propose going for the low hanging fruit first and work up the tree.
The further they get up the tree, the more people toward the top of the tree start fixing their fraud internally. I know uniparty pols from both parties are thieves, seditionists and traitors.
Being a GA resident I’m so pissed to have the southern mafia running our state. Why do all the cheaters always get away with these crimes
PAs not on the list, but I bet Philly is the epicenter
Next on Trump’s list, arrest all robbers in those states, and charge them all for massive election crimes.
Massachusetts actually has a ton of Republicans but it’s damn near pointless to be one there.
The same thing goes on in Vermont.
I’ve said here many times, the solid red old school bad ass real Republicans that live up here deserve an award because lemme tell ya, our lives are a constant battle.. and I’m joking or exaggerating.
The only reason this part of the country is not California is because of us.
I’ll be expecting some reparations at some point too, by the way, it’s been a crappy way to live.
Thought Pa. would be in the top 10.
That’s an amazing list. Somehow corrupt Illinois didn’t make it on there. Must be 11
This is a good policy. Here is the thing about transfer payments that come from the government’s welfare state to citizens; it’s taxpayer money. If they want “choice” and freedom with their money, they can earn it.
Welfare programs are to provide for basic needs and nothing more. If the recipients have disposable income, then benefits are too high. Or they’re earning money on the side that they haven’t declared in their assets, assets which are used to determine eligibility.
Benefits have been too high for a couple of generations now. The combinations of free cheese available is shocking.
Freeloaders should be surviving at best.
EXACTLY…..
not rocket science as we say…..
also as EVERYONE HAS BEEN SAYING FOR YEARS…..the BIG PICTURE reason for “open borders” was to ACQUIRE & PAY FOR LIFETIME VOTERS….. at some point they are going to want a raise to KEEP VOTING….. thus we find ourselves here and now.
It will be CRUCIAL to REMOVE these PAID VOTERS from the rolls as well as cut their funding……it wont be long before the rioting starts in these cities once the funds dry up and resources dwindle.
I look forward to seeing what happens to the Twin Cities economy once the federal spigot is turned off.
Any and all the D cities!
Are there Any large/medium sized “R cities”???
Springfield, MO might be a mid sized R city.
Trust me, they will be fighting over food scraps if this is done.
I think we’ll hear that sucking sound that Ross Perot described.
The fraudsters don’t even have to vote, ballot harvesters will do that for them.
Right ?! 😅😡🤬
Acquire and pay for lifetime voters from countries that view corrupt, single-party rule by socialists as normal.
Not like they brought in a bunch of Norwegians or Hungarians to MN.
Yeah….mostly cold loving Somalis……go figure…..
Why don’t we decide that wealth transfer is not a valid purpose of government?
It’s theft!
I think most ordinary folks have either decided that or simply (and errantly) assumed it was the default position of oir U.S. Constitutional government.
Problem is – we haven’t actually had a Constitution-compliant federal government for well over a century…..
Do you remember back in the summer when someone posted receipts after illegals had bought something, balance showing on one receipt was $11,000 and balance on the other was $14,000 or $15,000. Now we are talking about Somalis. Has anyone checked their balances in their bank accounts or if they have S.N.A.P. cards. I’m really sick of this.
Why the banks didn’t flag massive amounts of money withdrawals from multiple accounts? Banks will flag Americans accounts if we constantly withdrew massive amounts of money several times. Plus, the Somalians are living in very expensive houses. Where are the Real Estate companies? Real estate companies and
Banks are in on the fraud led by dirty politicians.$$$
Pam Blondie where are you? Oh wait. Spam Pam and Kash Patel are just as corrupt.
Add to your list, IRS watchdogs, banks and real estate brokerages. Everything is corrupted to their cores!
The top of your list should have K Street lawyers that write legislation, then the legislators that vote on the bills that they Don.’t even read and the way money is dumped over to NGO’s for some kind of “distribution” that always seems kind of sketchy!
$5 billion in the latest bill they are working on for foreigners or illegals, not sure which.
They are doing exactly what the President of the United States wants. You know nothing about the chaos they inherited from the corrupt former “administration.” It was an “administration of spite.”
Give them a break.
Is it still their “nap time?” We need a new attorney general and head of FBI – preferably people who are patriots and know something about law and order.
TSA employees report seeing suitcases filled with cash going out of the country at the Minneapolis airport. Question is…why wasn’t it reported, and if it was why wasn’t anything done about it? Obviously the fraud has long tentacles.
Mordida. Money under the table.
Also, bribe to officials (think ‘traffic stop’), and ‘the bite’ (cartel ‘tax’) applied to a financial transaction … cost of doing business in a cartel-ocracy.
Actually it was reported by the low-level TSA agents. What we need to learn is who did it get reported to (all the way up the chain) and why wasn’t anything done about it. The notion these were law abiding money couriers is nonsensical.
It was reported to Biden’s DOJ, they chose to do nothing, according to TSA.
I was wondering where the money came from. Out of Somali citizens’ banks, from the fraudulent organizations … who knows.
TSA were told to look away and let them pass. Question is, by whom?
Who told the TSA, who watched 700 million dollars leave the Country in Somali Suitcases, to stand down and let it go?
Be regular US citizen (esp white) with few hundred $s on you and it’s taken in a flash.
🎯
I know of situations in the past where if a person tried to take even a few dollars more than $10,000 out of the country, the TSA would seize the entire 10K plus. To move suitcases full of cash seems way over the line. Something does not smell right in MN.
I used to live in Minnesota, but moved 5 years ago to the nearby free-state of South Dakota. I still fly out of MSP airport occasionally. Once there, If you bother to look you’ll see that 80/90% of the employees at the airport appear to be foreigners (TSA included) – non-Scandinavian looking people. If you think corruption is limited to non-government employed people you bound to be wrong. I’m sure there is some amount of tribal – look the other way – antics going on.
🎯
Canada’s TD Bank is definitely one of them:
https://ca.finance.yahoo.com/news/former-td-employee-u-pleads-212933529.html
https://www.cnbc.com/2024/10/10/td-bank-3-billion-fine-doj-settle-money-laundering-drug-cartel.html
You don’t need all banks in on it. Compromise a few regulators, place a few key players in specific banks and you are in business.
Over time they have compromised judges, legislators and all of the systems and laws in place to remove these people
Banks have been Convicted of Money Laundrying for Drug Cartels. They pay millions in Fines, but No Individuals are ever Prosecuted …… These “Fines” are the Cost of Doing Business and then the Fines go to the Feral gov. Rinse & Repeat.
But Americans Love their drugs, so it’s a Viable Market with strong Demand for products. Somalis are Guilty, but the bigger story is They are the “bagmen” for the democRats $$$ laundry.
They do flag those transactions. The embedded “resistance” ignores them the same way that they ignored the flagged transactions of the crack head son of Auto Pen Xiden.
The old founding fathers belief “once citizens realize they can vote themselves money, then anarchy always ensues”.
The D response to the fraud investigations is so over the top it looks like sheer panic. Really makes you wonder how much of their wealth and power is based on this sort of fraud.
i am not so naive as to believe the GOPe is innocent, but their grift must largely come in other ways.
The Republican Congressmen are are panicking as well. Fox isn’t covering much of the fraud in somalia — helping divert attention to the dead protester. Fox represents RINOS.
I so wish more of my conservative friends understood that FAUX News is controlled opposition for the Chamber of Commerce and the Sea Island crowd! For many of them it’s all they watch, and they are as manipulated and ill informed as my Leftist friends and neighbors are, just on the other end of the spectrum!
It’s almost funny at family gatherings to listen to one side spout CNN and the other side parrot Faux News and neither of them realize how ill informed they actually are about what is REALLY happening!
CUT THE CORD
Stop repeating the same comment over and over! I haven’t had cable in 25 years so I don’t know who you’re talking to, but please don’t respond just to yell at people!
100% correct
” With DHS, FBI and now IRS investigators focused exclusively on the two counties involved in the Somali fraud rings, the fraudsters will be identified and prosecuted.” – Sundance
I have such little trust and faith in any of those agencies I will wait and celebrate when prosecutions and incarcerations actually happen!!!! JMO
I believe 61 people, almost exclusively of Somalian background, have already been found guilty of fraud totalling almost $1bn with the DoJ reviewing $18bn in suspicious transactions. The DoJ lead prosecutor, Thompson, believes at least half of that $18bn is fraudulent.
Thompson has a small staff and has been prosecuting this fraud for a number of years. So it is not true that the DoJ is doing nothing – it has been Minnesotan law enforcement who have done nothing. Minnesotan AG Elison continues to claim this is all a nothing burger. The Feds have been doing the heavy lifting but they clearly lack the resources to pursue all the fraudsters.
Surging in resources will massively assist Thompson and the DoJ team who are currently doing an excellent job investigating the fraud, bringing people to trial and securing convictions.
They need to start moving up the chain of command. That money wasn’t all going to Somalia.
Yep – I think that is Bessent plan
The intention is good, but the opportunities for govt abuse are breathtaking. This is only possible with Big Bad Data and Big Brother AI.
CUT IT ALL OFF!
It’s time to get it on….
And stop playin…..
NO MERCY!
<CUT IT ALL OFF!…NO MERCY!>
That’s what Lorena Bobbitt said 🙂
Yeah, but in that case it got sewed back on….
This case we leave it for the birds to feed….
After Minnesota next up should be New York and California!!!
WITHOUT Federal money….
Smells like fraud—Boy, does it ever!! Mamdani is standing nearby with a huge Cheshire cat grin, too .As bad a she already is, Hochul is linked up with the devil. She thinks that will strengthen her position. May they both reap the whirlwind.
Jeremiah 23:19 See, the storm of the Lord will burst out in wrath, a whirlwind swirling down on the heads of the wicked.
What is amazing about this article is that people who are claiming assistance has been able to send some/all overseas. If you can send money overseas then you don’t need assistance. Drop them.
When you have all four of your wives collecting welfare individually, you can benefit some from the economies of scale.
What was amazing to me was the comments by TSA and airport authorities in Minneapolis that for years persons have filed papers and left with large amounts of money (CASH) in their suitcases. OK, if there was paperwork filed; follow up and catch these folks.
Remittances have always been a big factor for many nations (esp Mexico) so the proposed action is excellent but likely will affect all of us who need to pay a travel invoice in a foreign nation.
Good move.
The Kountry Grocery Coldspring, Tx money launders … pretty sure ck it out k?
This how the democrat party will be connected to terror funding and be declared a terrorist organization.
Lest we forget the Patriot Act results. This tool can easily be turned on honest people.
Blocking wire transfers……then boost the number of inspectors at airports and the Canada border. Check for suitcases full of money.
Hmmmm, could one reading Minnesota was chosen for fraud was for it’s loooong border with Canada…..
Should be Could one reason……
Looking at maps, Wisconsin and Michigan have big ole lakes in the way, Minnesota is just walk across thru the woods many places.
.
The Left uses women and children to hide behind as they loot our treasury just like Islamic terrorists hide among women and children to shield them from the consequences of their depraved acts.
This is NOT a coincidence.
Same Playbook.
No one is using wire transfers for overseas transactions, unless you are an institution. Crypto, cash, cross border payment services etc, but not wire transfers
They’re using Hawala’s – the suitcases full of money. They are registered as money transfer businesses apparently, that’s what is allowing them through the TSA.
Is there a way the government can monitor the crypto, on line cash, etc. being sent out of our country.
Bessent believes there is between $300bn and $600bn in fraud in government spending totalling 1-2% of GDP. The annual budget deficit is approx 5% of GDP. So cutting fraud would immediately reduce the deficit by up to 40%. Speaker Johnston, hello, are you and your lazy GOP House team ever gonna get off your arse and actually do something about this? Are you ever going to do a budget? Are you ever going to legislate the DOGE identified waste in government spending?
It looks to me like Johnston and Thune and most of the GOP Congress are deliberately allowing this fraud to continue. They have done nothing to cut programs being defrauded, they have done nothing to help Trump get the district prosecutors the DoJ needs to bring fraud cases in other jurisdictions and they have been poor at increasing the number of judges available to hear the cases.
We should assume that many Uniparty RINOs have been profiting from massive fraud. See who among Congress members has been unenthusiastic or downright oppositional regarding the various DOGE and other investigations that produced revelations of malfeasance across state and federal agencies…… That’s likely a good barometer of who’s making money from the grift.
Don’t forget the ones, both D and R, listed on the list of recipients of $$ from Venezuela. So much fraud, so little time.
YES.
Wish Bondi had some of Bessent’s guts smarts and resolve
She’s doing her job well, considering what she inherited. If the President of the United States is pleased with her, let it be. Trust him to govern his priorities. He’s a great communicator and she doesn’t seem to suffer from insubordination. Trust for now.
There’s room for criticism for all things democrat.
I think a snarling wolverine image is appropriate here.
This is fantastic news!!!
Thank you 🦅💥🇺🇸✝️
Sounds great.
…But why not lower reporting threshold for all transactions exceeding $600 – same amount proposed for U.S. citizens in the American Rescue Plan Act?
Why should money leaving our country be less scrutinized?
There will suddenly be a lot of money transfers of $2,999 to avoid the threshhold.
Noise obscures the signal at that level. Correct adjustment of the gain is required.
Good Point. 👍
Will that include the Hyatt, Hilton and other major chains receiving taxpayers money?
I just found out my Venezuelan neighbors, who I like, are here on work visas and came here in order to send money back to Venezuela. Both of them have minimum wage jobs and their 12 year old son attends school but none of them speak a word of English. He owns a carryout there. I’m beginning to suspect the taxpayers pay their rent and medical bills while they pocket their earnings and send it back home.
We sure are a country of suckers.
Section 8 housing? I have one of those across the street … changes out ‘families’ every few years.
Section 8 housing, also known as the Housing Choice Voucher Program, provides rental assistance to low-income families, seniors, and individuals with disabilities, helping them afford safe and decent housing in the private market. Participants pay a portion of their income towards rent, while the program subsidizes the rest, allowing them to choose from various housing options that meet specific requirements.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Section_8_(housing)
I am incredibly cynical at this point in my life, after DECADES of broken promises from DC but this does feel different. There is a purpose and a unity in this administration and things are actually being accomplished, as much as the RINOs try to hinder progress, as they always do!
Still don’t trust Turtle Thune, Polly Pockets Johnson, Susie Wiles, Pam Blondi, or sadly, Kash Patel, whom I originally supported. But Scott Bessent get top marks in my book, along with Bobby Kennedy, Tom Homan, Pete Hegseth, and a handful of others who are finally walking the walk after so many years of people just talking the talk until they get into office and then suddenly forgetting everything they said!
What will be done with the hundreds of million dollars which was funneled through the MSP airport? The Somalis had luggage full of cash. TSA knew about it, it’s been recorded but nothing was done with it! Zilch, zip, nada. MSP airport topped NYC and LAX for the amount of cash going through TSA. Imagine that.
Makes you wonder if MSP airport is run by Somalis? When you go there all you see working there are Somalis. I guess no white people are allowed to work at MSP now.
Bingo…..yes they dominate jobs at the airport…..to include plane cleaning!
YAY! Now those 18,000 IRS agents will have something to do other than go after the hard working and honest American taxpayer!
Unintended consequences….
if you cannot check voterID how are money changers going to monitor welfare recipients?
I believe Bessent also said that any welfare recipient caught lying on their transmission to other countries, will be kicked off welfare.
Although it may not sound like a big deal to drop one person’s SNAP, that person may be running multiple fraudulent organizations receiving other grants and govt assistance.
I wonder if the proprietor of these fraudulent orgs gives up their personal ‘public assistance’ by simply declaring income so they no longer qualify. Would they then be able to say ‘no’ to that question, and continue sending funds received by their fraudulent organization.
This is a small step in the right direction. Take it to California, Illinois, New York, Texas & Florida by June and nationwide before the end of 2026 – and codify in law.
Next tax all such remittances at 25%.
For those who value privacy, this is concerning to me. The exact type of scenario that would lead to a gov CBDC to enable watching of all transactions on all citizens.
A better approach – I think modifying the applications for various public assistance could be used – by accepting public money, you grant the government access to all of your financial accounts and transactions!
I can here the cries now – “but what about 4th amendments rights!” You want your 4th amendment – DO NOT TAKE 0ne cent of taxpayer money.
Might solve the ballooning welfare system really fast.
re: “You want your 4th amendment – DO NOT TAKE 0ne cent of taxpayer money.”
This ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^.
My father told me years ago that the feds offered free piping to deliver ditch water to and throughout his small property. I asked him why he didnt accept it. He said ‘once you invite the feds onto your property, you can never get them off of it.’ Sage advice.
Excellent!
I hope it’s appreciated how big this is. Many illegal aliens receive public assistance, most of which is federally taxpayer funded, even where the funds are state disbursed. In fact, California’s generous welfare benefits to illegals (which they pinkie swear they’re not providing, mind you!) are one of the biggest draws pulling such people into the so-called sanctuary state. They can literally live a better life in the U.S. on welfare than they can in their home countries, by their own efforts.
This will gradually reduce one of the magnets for illegal immigration and you can expect it to snowball. It’s one thing to attack illegal immigration at the border or through worksite enforcement. But dry up the spigot of free cash and that 3k inducement to self-deport begins to look mighty reasonable.
Every other week brings another win for the American people from this administration. As the president said at the Republican retreat, it just takes touting the successes, letting people know how much the momentum is shifting in favor of American citizens. Give people an incentive to come out this November and not allow the radical anarchists to again get another lever of power from which to enact on a national level what is happening now in places like Minneapolis.
The new office targeting fraud, announced by the Vice President, can address the rest. As I’ve suggested before, walking while gum chewing is not just an urban legend.
J
And we haven’t even unleashed the Doge(s) yet 😉
lol I see what you did there.
I remember reading that the government and states have agreements or contracts regarding welfare benefits. One state, either California or New York, government paid 80%, state paid 20%. So the taxpayer is carrying the load across the country.
Is Walmart going to cooperate with this?
Every time I go in there, the line for people sending money is verry long and has been for years.
When I worked in law enforcement I had a good relationship with the investigators at Social Services.
Whenever I arrested someone for financial crimes, usually check fraud or embezzlement, I gave Social Services a call .
If the recipients failed to report the proceeds of their crime as income to Social Services then SS investigators would charge them with fraud and they would get booted and lose their benefits.
Social Services would likewise help me out with tracking down suspects.
That’s how it’s supposed to work, but in many Democrat-controlled strongholds there’s no cooperation between agencies.
re: “Secretary Bessent Announces Regional Action to Block Remittances From any Entity Receiving Public Assistance”
WILL THIS include suitcases full of cash (but declared at the airport to TSA via form #______) destined for deposit in foreign banks?
Asking for friends in Somalia that can’t access banks in their own country … /sarc
Bessent needs to target Maine, specifically Lewiston and Portland.
Here’s an idea:
Why don’t we decide that wealth transfer is theft and not a valid purpose of government?
End all welfare programs.
Suspend. Make everyone reapply. Make it onerous.
Make it based on fingerprint IDs. We have that tech nowadays …
We need to fix the economy first – give these people meaningful jobs to actually apply for. Then, maybe this can all get handed back to the Church where it belongs.
This is excellent!
The Federal Gov’t actually enforcing the law.
Instead of out-sourcing law-breaking to NGO’s and being willfully blind.
Thank you President Trump!!!
Great Idea! But …. Wait for it: 3 …. 2 …. 1 ——> LAWFARE!
An example of the difficulty involved with unwinding the remittance business … drive through McKinney, TX just north of where we live. Every street corner in “Historical McKinney along Highway 5”, has a gas station convenience store or money transfer business with signs in Spanish advertising their ability to “wire money internationally”.
The size and complexity of the task to cut remittances is massive.
Gas station international money transfers – never thought that could be ‘a thing’.
Need to have those terminals equipped with cameras and a thumb print scanner …
they need to focus on virginia, there is a large somali population there, just saying……….
Bessent (Treasury Secretary and IRS interim leader) is intellectually and intuitively excellent.
He just finished speaking 11:50 ET about Minnesota alleged fraud and outlined a myriad of financial tracking tasks underway
and has notified some businesses that are under investigation.
A podcast replay of discussion – including answering questions via internet video / audio – may be available later today on War room.
In short, the investigation / adjudication of fraud (taking money from u.s. taxpayers) is not distracted
by the provocateurs ( miss motivated by making a miss activist, non-soccer, non-co-co drinks, mom miss blocking of ice etc. actions, a martyr )
stalking etc. of law enforcement ( ice, dea, etc.)
The financial investigation is underway in mn. (in part, thanks to an independent reporter, shirley, trying to connect the dots)….
and that may likely include all states, over time ( to support / protect taxpayer$ funds )
imho
Thanks for the heads up on the podcast..
A good start of turning off the spigots. The next step is to put a lock washer on those spigots so that they cannot be turned back on. Also, make sure that those spigots do not leak.
When will we see serious action on remittances to Mexico? Until then this is just a partial remedy. I love Bessent, but-
At least (most of) those remitted dollars were earned due to work and not fraud.
Did any of those that “earned due to work” take any government assistance?
I’m curious about what the numbers look like of Somalians now choosing to self deport, are they fleeing the scene or hunkering down and aiming to continue plaguing America with their presence?
However, with the IRS reviewing each transfer and cross referencing to public assistance records anyone who attempts to work around this regulation will be subject to federal laws on financial fraud, wire service fraud and potentially money laundering.
Democrats may be re-thinking the hiring of 80,000+ IRS agents back in the Biden days.
Frank Bisignano runs the IRS, and previously has run major businesses at JP Morgan and Fiserv, the largest payments company in the world. He knows 100% how to track payments and ensure they are compliant with law, and he will absolutely make sure it happens. He is under siege from wacko Dems like Pocahontas so you know he is right over the target. They fear competence and whatever can be said of Frank, nobody can claim he lacks competence. One of the most accomplished businessmen in the world.
I wonder how long it will take for some enterprising fellow traveler to offer their services to send money out of the country (for a fee of course) who doesn’t receive any federal benefits and who knows the loopholes like keeping the amount below the reporting threshold?
Photo of transferee and his/her fingerprint (both obtained on the transfer terminal) would show a pattern … but we don’t have that requirement (yet).
I’m hearing Scott Besent saying “wire the money”
what’s to prevent some enterprising young fella from packaging the bills up and sending them overseas with dried food, such as beans; would give more meaning to the expression “bean counter”
they’ve been doing it for years in the open.
https://www.breitbart.com/immigration/2026/01/07/tsa-found-millions-in-cash-in-luggage-of-somalians-at-minneapolis-airport/
not long
Don’t spoil the fun. Let them try. All for the enjoyment of More Popcorn!!
How would they get the money out of the financial institution (FI)? They would have to withdraw in less than $3k increments. US FIs have built in mechanisms to track “unusual transactions” for an account holder. Your enterprising fella is going to find it’s more difficult than he expected.
How on earth did the Somalis in Minnesota get a BANK to give them $1 million in cash, that was seen to leave Minnesota by the TSA? I would really like to know, because banks I deal with would never even have $1 million cash on hand to give out, and they would protest vehemently about such a transaction, IF they’d even ever grant it!
This is probably silly but I wondered if all of the people had to pay someone every month, like rent, to be sent out of the country. It would take while to make a million but not impossible, especially if you had businesses contributing also.
They don’t use banks.
The hawala system relies on networks of Somali-owned MSBs (money service businesses) that settle payments between agents rather than moving money directly through banks.
Somali-run money transfer firms in US cities such as Minneapolis, Columbus, and Seattle operate as licensed MSBs and sit at the heart of the “hawala” corridor linking Somali communities in North America to relatives in Somalia, Kenya, Ethiopia, and the Gulf. -Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN)
This is where you use data analytics to identify the enterprising fellow traveler – any dude that sends more than 5 transfers in oh, let’s say a week gets a visit. Doesn’t matter about the amount. Just like we should be doing with political contributions via smurfs.
Great start. One Q – How will this trace money transferred via the Hawala (or xawala in Somalian) system?
They already have a system for doing exactly that. It’s untraceable. It’s used by terrorists and criminals to move money all over the world.
Hawala, originating from an Arabic term for transfer or trust, is an informal method of transferring money without any money physically moving from one place to another. It is based on a system of money lenders known as hawaladars, which is generally used in the Middle East, Africa, and on the Indian subcontinent outside traditional banking systems common among the Western world.