Americans are sick and tired of being ripped off. You work hard. You pay your taxes. And then you watch billions of your dollars get shoveled into programs that become fraud factories.
Finally, there’s a way to fight back, and maybe even get paid for doing it.
“You can report fraud and now you might actually get paid for it… This is incentivizing citizen journalists, people like you, to expose fraud.” pic.twitter.com/M5RyTbLbOK
— Ari Hoffman (@thehoffather) April 6, 2026
The Trump administration’s Treasury Department is moving to fully implement a whistleblower program through the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, or FinCEN, creating a formal framework to reward people who come forward with timely, actionable tips on fraud, sanctions violations, and other illicit finance crimes. And the payout is real: whistleblowers could receive 10% to 30% of the monetary penalties collected if their information leads to a successful enforcement action by Treasury or the Department of Justice.
You find it. You report it. You help prove it. You get a cut. This isn’t coming out of taxpayer money. The money comes from penalties collected from the people who got caught.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent put it this way: “As promised, Treasury will reward whistleblowers who provide timely, actionable information on fraud, sanctions violations, and other significant illicit finance activity.” He added that President Trump has been clear that Americans have a right to know their tax dollars are not being diverted “to fund acts of global terror or to fund luxury cars for fraudsters.” That’s exactly the point. Americans are tired of footing the bill for corruption while the people gaming the system live large.
Take the Minnesota “Feeding Our Future” scandal—a COVID-era free-for-all where fraudsters allegedly sucked billions out of a program meant to feed kids.
One guy involved in the $3 million fraud was sentenced to only one year in jail after pleading guilty. That’s the kind of “justice” that makes Americans furious—and rightly so.
Because let’s call it what it is: if you or I stole that kind of money, we wouldn’t be seeing daylight anytime soon.
We’re seeing the same fraud all over the country: Fake nonprofits, inflated invoices, programs that exist on paper—but not in reality
In New York, prosecutors say nonprofit leaders stole over $1 million through kickbacks and shady contracts tied to homeless services.
If you swapped “New York” with “Seattle,” a lot of this would sound the same.
For years on this show, I’ve been hearing from listeners, regular people like you, who are doing the work the government won’t do.
You’ve given me tips, and we dig. We check public records. That’s called citizen journalism.
And now? The federal government is basically saying:
Don’t just report it—cash in on it.
FinCEN’s proposed rule would create formal procedures for whistleblowers to submit information securely and in a timely way, including applying for an award. It also lays out eligibility rules, how those award claims will be judged, and protections for whistleblowers who come forward. In other words, this is not some slapdash tip line. The Treasury is building an actual structure to encourage people to blow the whistle and protect them when they do it.
You don’t even need me. You can go straight to the Treasury.
But if you want help connecting the dots—especially tying local fraud to federal funding—we can help but the tips have to connect to a federal program and lead to a real enforcement action with serious penalties.
Not rumors. Not guesses. Real evidence. Real documents. Real proof.
And Treasury is making clear that people should submit information as soon as possible—and they should bring receipts. Detailed documentation. Specific evidence.
And here’s the part that should make fraudsters even more nervous: This program isn’t just aimed at outsiders—it’s aimed at people inside the schemes.
Treasury is basically saying:
“If you know where the bodies are buried financially, start talking.”
That’s how big cases get blown wide open.
Because let’s face it, these operations don’t fall apart from the outside. They collapse when someone on the inside decides they want out, wants revenge, or wants a payday.
The whistleblower program itself isn’t coming out of nowhere. It was authorized under the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020 and strengthened by the Anti-Money Laundering Whistleblower Improvement Act of 2022. Tips are already being accepted. But the proposed rule now submitted to the Federal Register is what would fully implement the program with formal rules, award procedures, and protections.
Treasury also recently launched a portal for whistleblowers, making it even easier for people to come forward.
Americans are watching their tax dollars disappear into waste, fraud, and abuse. Rather than just accepting it, Americans can now do something about it.
