New initiative targets financial crimes, healthcare fraud, and sanctions violations with rewards tied to enforcement outcomes.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
The U.S. Department of the Treasury announced Monday a new whistleblower program that will offer individuals up to 30 percent of collected fines for providing information that leads to successful enforcement actions against financial crimes.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the initiative is designed to incentivize reporting of fraud, sanctions violations, and other illicit financial activity. In a statement released alongside the proposal, he said the department is encouraging individuals to come forward with actionable intelligence to help protect the financial system, according to details outlined in a Treasury announcement.
The program will be administered through the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, which submitted a proposed rule to the Federal Register outlining eligibility and payment criteria. Under the proposal, individuals who provide information leading to enforcement actions resulting in penalties exceeding $1 million may qualify for a share of the recovered funds.
Officials said the payments will be drawn directly from collected fines rather than taxpayer funds. The program is expected to apply to a range of financial crimes, including healthcare fraud involving Medicare and Medicaid, as noted in reporting by The New York Post.
The initiative follows increased scrutiny of large-scale fraud cases, including allegations that government programs were targeted in schemes resulting in billions of dollars in losses over recent years.
In a separate statement, Bessent said the program aligns with broader administration efforts to ensure that public funds are not diverted for illicit purposes, according to a Treasury press release. He said the department will continue working with law enforcement partners to identify and disrupt fraud networks.
The Internal Revenue Service currently operates a similar whistleblower program, and Treasury officials said the new initiative expands federal efforts to leverage insider information in identifying complex financial crimes.
The announcement comes days after Vice President JD Vance convened the first meeting of a newly established anti-fraud task force aimed at coordinating enforcement efforts across agencies.
Alongside the program rollout, FinCEN issued an advisory warning financial institutions about evolving fraud schemes targeting government benefits programs, signaling an increased focus on detection and prevention across the financial sector.
Officials said the proposed rule will undergo a public comment period before final implementation, with the program expected to play a role in future enforcement actions involving high-value financial crimes.
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