Authored by Kimberly Hayek via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),
Whistleblowers are encouraged to report abuse of Medicare, Medicaid, and other government health benefit programs, the Department of the Treasury announced on March 30, while warning that sophisticated fraud schemes are siphoning billions from them.
In an advisory, the Treasury detailed the way in which transnational criminal organizations—working with domestic fraudsters and organized crime groups—create fake health care providers, employ cover people to pose as owners who are not U.S. residents, and steal the personal data of actual beneficiaries to submit false claims for care that was never provided or was not needed. Proceeds are then laundered through wire transfers, digital assets, and culpable bank co-conspirators before being transferred overseas.
The department said its Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) has published a proposed rule to fully implement a whistleblower program that would reward 10–30 percent of penalties collected in successful enforcement in fraud and money laundering cases, as well as sanctions violations. Payments would be taken from penalties obtained under the Bank Secrecy Act and other laws already in place.
“The regulation proposed today, when finalized, will fully implement these statutes,” FinCEN said. “Whistleblowers are encouraged to submit information as soon as possible and to provide detailed, specific documentation to support their claims.”
In the meantime, FinCEN said it “recently launched a portal” for whistleblowers to begin making reports.
Financial institutions reported a 20 percent increase in suspicious activity linked to health care fraud in 2025 over the previous year, according to the advisory. Officials, however, suspect the filings reveal only a small part of the fraud.
“President Trump has been clear that Americans have a right to know that their tax dollars are not being used to commit fraud,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement. “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.”
The department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network advisory comes as the Trump administration works to undermine waste and abuse in federal spending.
The advisory was released in collaboration with the FBI and the Health and Human Services Department’s Office of Inspector General. It aligns with an executive order targeting fraud across federal payments.
Treasury officials said the advisory and proposed regulation are in line with administration actions to protect taxpayer dollars and protect the financial system against illicit activity, and that financial institutions are requested to file suspicious activity reports and to inform law enforcement immediately upon encountering suspicious transactions.
In February, Bessent described efforts to combat fraud in federal spending.
“We are encouraging whistleblowers who know about fraud, people who are stealing from the American taxpayer, to come forward at Treasury,” he said. “We will be giving rewards up to 10 percent to 30 percent of the fines that we levy.”
Bessent added that these efforts represent a great way to ferret out waste, fraud, and abuse.
The Trump administration has also flagged fraud concerns in New York.
Federal investigators there have homed in on the state’s Medicaid program. In March, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz, tasked with spearheading a federal review of Medicaid spending, cited abnormal job growth in home health and personal care aides as showing signs of possible abuse.
“Heart surgeons are trained to look at the numbers,” the cardiothoracic surgeon said. “When something doesn’t add up, you don’t ignore it; you investigate.”
In a specific New York case, eight people were indicted in a $68 million Medicaid fraud scheme revolving around Brooklyn adult day care centers that allegedly entailed bribes and inflated claims.