Treasury notifies some businesses amid Minnesota fraud probe, Bessent says

LE SUEUR, Minnesota, Jan 9 (Reuters) - The U.S. Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) has notified some businesses that they are under investigation for alleged fraud involving COVID-era tax incentives, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Friday.

Bessent declined to identify the businesses that had been identified, but said U.S. government was determined to get to the bottom of an alleged social services fraud scheme in Minnesota that he said diverted billions of dollars intended for social welfare programs and may have "potentially been diverted" to the Al-Shabaab terrorist group in Somalia.

"We have traced where the money went and are examining it," Bessent told a virtual news conference during a visit to Minnesota, after meeting with several financial institutions there.