Latest / The Ben Ferguson Podcast / Banks Ordered to Crack Down on Illegal Accounts plus Behind-the-Scenes Move Towards U.S.–Iran Deal

Transcript

Banks Ordered to Crack Down on Illegal Accounts plus Behind-the-Scenes Move Towards U.S.–Iran Deal · The Ben Ferguson Podcast

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: President Donald Trump promised that he was going to go
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: after illegal immigrants, and one way he was going to
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: do it is make it much harder for them to
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: operate when it comes especially to their businesses in the
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: United States of America. Well, President Trump has now made
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: good on that promise and has signed a new executive
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: order that is directing federal banking regulators as well as
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: the Treasury Department and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: tighten their oversight on bank accounts, on bank loans, and
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: financial services connected to people who are in the United
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: States of America illegally. Now, this move could have enormous
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: implications for millions of people and for banks across the
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: country that want to stay in compliance. It also tells
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: a very clear message that the future of immigration enforcement
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: in America is changing now. The executive order was titled
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: Restoring Integrity to a America's Financial System, and the White
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: House says the goal is actually really simple. Stop criminal organizations,
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: illegal labor networks, cartel money laundering operations, and undocumented workers
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: using fake or questionable identities from exploiting the US banking system. Now,
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: this isn't just about immigration. The administration is also framing
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: this as a national security issue, a financial crime issue,
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: and a taxpayer protection issue all at the same time.
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: According to the White House, gaps in banking oversight have
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: unfortunately allowed drug cartels and human trafficking networks, as well
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: as Chinese link money laundering operations and illegal label brokers
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: to move billions of dollars through American financial institutions with
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: limited or no scrutiny. Now, the Executive Order specifically sites
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: investigations and involving Mexican cartels as well as Chinese laundering
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: operations that allegedly use US based bank accounts to move
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: enormous amounts of illicit money. And now the Trump administration
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: says ignorance is no longer bliss if you're in the
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: banking industry. They say the era of don't ask questions
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: banking is over or you're going to face the consequences. Now,
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: here's what the new directive actually does do. First, the
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: Treasury Department has been ordered to issue formal advisories to
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: issue formal advisories to banks warning them about the administration
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: what they describe as red flags connected to illegal immigration
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: and underground labor operations. Now, those red flags include suspicious
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: payroll activities, employers paying workers off the books, repeated cash
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: withdrawals on a regular basis tied to payroll cycles, shell companies,
• 2:57
  Speaker 1: hihen the true owners of the accountsabor trafficking indicators, and
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: the use of individual tax identification numbers known as iti
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: ins in situations where lawful immigration status cannot be verified. Now,
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: this has been exploited for quite some time, and they've
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: been set up this way, and Democrats knew it, but
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: they were fine with it, and so were the banks,
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: because when you have billions of dollars coming in and
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: out of the system, why would you want to stop it. Well, now,
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: many illegal immigrants have used these iti in numbers instead
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: of so security numbers to literally open their bank accounts
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: and file their taxes or even apply for a loan an.
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: Itin is issued by the IRS for tax filing purposes,
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: but it is not proof of legal immigration status, and
• 3:47
  Speaker 1: the administration now says banks should view some of those
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: accounts as higher risk and subject them to enhance scrutiny.
• 3:56
  Speaker 2: The second thing the order says is this.
• 3:59
  Speaker 1: Direct the regulators to rewrite parts of the Bank's Secrecy Act,
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: as well as the Know Your customer rules. As the
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: bank describes them, It's basically the same anti money laundering
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: regulations that banks already abide by and already use to
• 4:15
  Speaker 1: fight terrorism financing as well as organized crime. So it's
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: not as if the banks are having to learn something
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: new here. They just can't look the other way or
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: deliberately on purpose not ask questions to keep the money flowing. Now,
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: the White House wants immigration status and work authorization to
• 4:33
  Speaker 1: potentially become part of the risk analysis that banks use
• 4:37
  Speaker 1: when deciding whether to open accounts, or issue loans or
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: extend credit.
• 4:42
  Speaker 2: I'll tell you what, it's pretty awesome.
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: America is entering its two hundred and fiftieth year and
• 4:46
  Speaker 1: the direction of this country is being decided right now
• 4:49
  Speaker 1: in our culture and our economy, and who we choose
• 4:52
  Speaker 1: to support matters more than ever now. Most wireless companies
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: don't care who you are or what you believe. They
• 4:59
  Speaker 1: just want your money. Patriot Mobile, they're different. For more
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: than twelve years, they've still with Americans who believe freedom
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: is worth defending, funding the Christian Conservative movement when others
• 5:11
  Speaker 1: have stayed silent. And here's the deal. You don't have
• 5:15
  Speaker 1: to give up quality or service. When you switch to
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: Patriot Mobile, they deliver premium priority access on all three
• 5:23
  Speaker 1: major US networks, so you'll get the same or better
• 5:27
  Speaker 1: coverage than you have today. Think switching as a hassle,
• 5:31
  Speaker 1: It isn't. You can keep your same number, keep your phone,
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: or upgrade. They're one hundred percent US based customer service
• 5:38
  Speaker 1: team can activate you literally in minutes still paying off
• 5:43
  Speaker 1: a device. Patriot Mobile even offers a contract buyout. This
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: is a defining year and we must work together to
• 5:50
  Speaker 1: save our country. So go to Patriotmobile dot com slash verdict,
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: or you can call them nine to seven to two
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: Patriot and if you use the promo code Verdict, you'll
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: get a free month of service. That's Patriot Mobile dot
• 6:05
  Speaker 1: com slash verdict or nine to seven to two Patriot
• 6:09
  Speaker 1: and switch today.
• 6:10
  Speaker 2: Now.
• 6:10
  Speaker 1: To be clear, the administration backed away from one of
• 6:13
  Speaker 1: the most aggressive earlier ideas. That was a proposal that
• 6:17
  Speaker 1: would have required banks to collect citizenship documents from every customer.
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: Banking groups, Yeah, I guess what. Their lobbyists pushed back
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: hard against the plan. They warned that it could create
• 6:29
  Speaker 1: massive compliance costs and paperwork nightmares. But make no mistake,
• 6:34
  Speaker 1: this order still dramatically changes the direction of federal policy
• 6:38
  Speaker 1: towards banking. Banks are now being told they may need
• 6:43
  Speaker 1: to consider immigration status, deportation risk, and employment authorization is
• 6:49
  Speaker 1: part of financial risk assessments. That's something they did not
• 6:53
  Speaker 1: have to do before, which allowed for the massive loophole.
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: And then that leads the third major component of the
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: President's executive order, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. They've been
• 7:05
  Speaker 1: instructed to examine whether lenders should factor possible deportation or
• 7:11
  Speaker 1: loss of wages into the quote ability to repay standards
• 7:15
  Speaker 1: for mortgages, auto loans, credit cards, and other lending products.
• 7:21
  Speaker 1: Think about how significant that is. Donald Trump understands that,
• 7:26
  Speaker 1: essentially arguing that if someone is in the country illegally
• 7:29
  Speaker 1: and could be deported at any time, that creates major
• 7:33
  Speaker 1: financial risk for lenders and ultimately for the banking system itself.
• 7:38
  Speaker 1: That's something the banks didn't have to deal with until now,
• 7:42
  Speaker 1: And the White House says extending credit to people who
• 7:44
  Speaker 1: may suddenly lose employment due to immigration enforcement creates what
• 7:49
  Speaker 1: is called a structural ability to repay deficiency. Now, supporters
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: of this move in the banking industry say this is
• 7:58
  Speaker 1: long overdue, common sense approach and they argue that American
• 8:03
  Speaker 1: banks should know who they're doing business with, and they
• 8:07
  Speaker 1: should know if they're doing business with people that are
• 8:09
  Speaker 1: connected to the cartels, or human traffickers, or drug trafficking,
• 8:13
  Speaker 1: or sex traffickers, or illegal border labor operations, as well
• 8:18
  Speaker 1: as the underground economies that thrive when financial systems ignore
• 8:23
  Speaker 1: immigration fraud as well as identity theft concerns. The Treasury
• 8:27
  Speaker 1: Secretaries Scott Bessen put it bluntly recently when he was
• 8:31
  Speaker 1: asked about this, saying, quote, how do you know your
• 8:34
  Speaker 1: customer if you don't know if they have illegal or
• 8:37
  Speaker 1: illegal status? And politically, this is exactly the kind of
• 8:42
  Speaker 1: move that Trump advocates, supporters, and voters have been demanding
• 8:47
  Speaker 1: for years. Conservatives have argued that illegal immigration is sustained
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: not just by open borders, but access to American jobs,
• 8:54
  Speaker 1: American banking, American loans, American housing, and the financial system
• 8:59
  Speaker 1: that allows able to establish lives inside this country. On
• 9:02
  Speaker 1: top of all the government aid that illegal immigrants can
• 9:06
  Speaker 1: still get in this country every single day. The Trump
• 9:09
  Speaker 1: administration is now clearly trying to attack the infrastructure directly. Critics,
• 9:15
  Speaker 1: they're sounding the alarm, they're terrified immigration advocates right, those
• 9:20
  Speaker 1: advocating for illegal immigrants, and of course liberal groups say
• 9:23
  Speaker 1: this could create what they call a mass de banking event,
• 9:27
  Speaker 1: pushing millions of immigrants out of traditional banking system entirely.
• 9:32
  Speaker 1: That actually may be the whole point. I don't want
• 9:36
  Speaker 1: illegal immigrants in this country taking advantage of our system.
• 9:40
  Speaker 1: And much of the money, by the way, doesn't stand America.
• 9:43
  Speaker 1: It goes back to the country of origin. You may
• 9:46
  Speaker 1: remember just a few years ago the number two stimulus
• 9:50
  Speaker 1: in Mexico's economy was illegal immigrants in America sending money
• 9:55
  Speaker 1: back home. It outpaced Are you ready for this? They're
• 9:59
  Speaker 1: oil exports in Mexico. So is this a big problem?
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: You better believe it. And that's exactly why the President
• 10:07
  Speaker 1: is making this much about his larger Trump strategy on immigration,
• 10:12
  Speaker 1: border enforcement, workplace enforcement, visa policy, tax policy, welfare eligibility,
• 10:20
  Speaker 1: and now financial regulation to increase pressure on illegal immigration
• 10:25
  Speaker 1: from every angle. This also leads to more self deportation.
• 10:30
  Speaker 1: The message in the White House is unmistakable. If you're
• 10:33
  Speaker 1: in the United States of America legally, this administration does
• 10:36
  Speaker 1: not want you fully participating in the American financial system.
• 10:41
  Speaker 2: That is the policy shift that we're witnessing in.
• 10:43
  Speaker 1: Real time, and based on the reaction already from the
• 10:47
  Speaker 1: left and many of those in Washington and Wall Street
• 10:51
  Speaker 1: and the immigration advocacy groups, the fight is big and
• 10:55
  Speaker 1: they know just how powerful this move is going to be.
• 10:59
  Speaker 1: We've got some movement coming out of Iran, as The
• 11:02
  Speaker 1: Iranian government said on Thursday that it had submitted an
• 11:05
  Speaker 1: updated proposal and also received a response from the United
• 11:08
  Speaker 1: States for a potential agreement ending the current military conflict,
• 11:13
  Speaker 1: as a report suggests direct talks could actually resume as
• 11:17
  Speaker 1: soon as next week. The Amoradi newspaper called The Nationale,
• 11:22
  Speaker 1: citing Arab sources, claimed on Thursday that Iran in America
• 11:26
  Speaker 1: are working with a government of Pakistan as a mediator
• 11:29
  Speaker 1: to set the parameters of what any future negotiations will
• 11:33
  Speaker 1: look like and ultimately what will.
• 11:35
  Speaker 2: Be discussed now.
• 11:37
  Speaker 1: The administration of President Trump launched the current military campaign,
• 11:41
  Speaker 1: the newspaper said, known as Operation Epic Fury in February,
• 11:45
  Speaker 1: to reduce Iran's ability to threaten its neighbors, and is
• 11:48
  Speaker 1: publicly highlighted eliminating Iran's elicit nuclear program as a major objective.
• 11:53
  Speaker 1: The paper said as well. I Ran, on the other hand,
• 11:56
  Speaker 1: is seeking to eliminate all American sanctions on its businesses,
• 12:00
  Speaker 1: particularly in the oil sector. It is demanding that America
• 12:03
  Speaker 1: pay reparations quote unquote for the military assets that it destroyed.
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: Now I Ran as the world's foremost state sponsor of terrorism,
• 12:13
  Speaker 1: funding and otherwise supporting jihadi organizations such as Hamas hes
• 12:17
  Speaker 1: Blah and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad as well as others. Now,
• 12:22
  Speaker 1: remember all this began in February, and we're currently in
• 12:25
  Speaker 1: a quote unquote ceasefire.
• 12:28
  Speaker 2: Now.
• 12:28
  Speaker 1: President Trump called this an important moment, and it's very
• 12:32
  Speaker 1: clear now that the President of United States of America
• 12:34
  Speaker 1: has also moved the bar because he is saying we
• 12:37
  Speaker 1: may need to strike again.
• 12:40
  Speaker 2: Now.
• 12:40
  Speaker 1: Trump called off in person negotiations to permanently in the
• 12:44
  Speaker 1: war in April, complaining that what remains of Iran's regime
• 12:48
  Speaker 1: is too fragmented and the negotiating with it was not
• 12:51
  Speaker 1: possible at this time, saying, quote, we have all the cards.
• 12:55
  Speaker 1: They can call us anytime they want, but you're not
• 12:57
  Speaker 1: going to be making any more eighteen hour flight to
• 13:00
  Speaker 1: sit around talking about nothing. Is what Trump apparently told
• 13:04
  Speaker 1: as negotiators at the time. Now, The Nationale also reported
• 13:08
  Speaker 1: the direct talks could once again occur in the near future.
• 13:11
  Speaker 1: The newspaper sources claim that Iran in America are close
• 13:15
  Speaker 1: to having a workable agenda that would allow discussions to
• 13:18
  Speaker 1: actually be productive. They're not drafting a deal, but rather
• 13:22
  Speaker 1: outlining an agenda for negotiations that has the potential to
• 13:26
  Speaker 1: produce a comprehensive agreement, anonymous sources told the paper, saying
• 13:31
  Speaker 1: there are some encouraging and positive signs already emerging. The
• 13:35
  Speaker 1: newspaper added that, according to reports, Irana is now willing
• 13:39
  Speaker 1: to discuss its elicit nuclear program. Iranian officials claimed the
• 13:43
  Speaker 1: country is investigating and expanding nuclear power for civilian use,
• 13:48
  Speaker 1: but has repeatedly rejected proper inspections by the International Atomic
• 13:53
  Speaker 1: Energy Agency you know it is the IAEA, and have
• 13:58
  Speaker 1: been found to be enriching uranium rates incompatible with any
• 14:02
  Speaker 1: known civilian use. Now, Trump has also made it clear
• 14:05
  Speaker 1: and stated that he opposes any policy that can result
• 14:09
  Speaker 1: in Iran possessing a nuclear weapon, and that he will
• 14:12
  Speaker 1: not accept a peace agreement that did not address the
• 14:15
  Speaker 1: nuclear issue had on Now, the sources said, Iran has
• 14:19
  Speaker 1: now suggested to the mediators that they are willing in
• 14:23
  Speaker 1: principle to suspend its nuclear program from up to twelve years,
• 14:28
  Speaker 1: subject to unspecified conditions. The National Reporter that the US,
• 14:33
  Speaker 1: they said, one of the programs suspended for at least
• 14:35
  Speaker 1: twenty years. The Iranian Foreign minister spokesperson confirmed on Wednesday
• 14:40
  Speaker 1: night that mediation through Pakistan continues. He told Iranian state
• 14:46
  Speaker 1: television that Iran presented a new fourteen point proposal for
• 14:51
  Speaker 1: talks the United States, and as of Wednesday, America has
• 14:54
  Speaker 1: sent an official response back to Tehran with its position
• 14:58
  Speaker 1: on the proposal now, the Iranian Tasman News agency reported
• 15:02
  Speaker 1: this week, citing also anonymous sources, that Iran has indeed
• 15:07
  Speaker 1: sent a new round of proposals to Washington via Islamabad.
• 15:12
  Speaker 1: The Tasman reporting also emphasized that the Iranian terror state
• 15:16
  Speaker 1: is demanding reparations from America to pay for the missiles, drones,
• 15:21
  Speaker 1: and other military assets the US military destroyed to protect
• 15:25
  Speaker 1: its allies in the region and itself.
• 15:27
  Speaker 2: Now.
• 15:28
  Speaker 1: Those reports admitted any mention of the nuclear issue. However,
• 15:32
  Speaker 1: anonymous sources insisted that Iran would never accept limits on
• 15:36
  Speaker 1: its quote right to uranium enrichment. Now again that's coming
• 15:41
  Speaker 1: from state run Islamic Republic News Agency, And the reality
• 15:46
  Speaker 1: is the President is not going to agree to a
• 15:48
  Speaker 1: bad deal. So here we are at the same point
• 15:51
  Speaker 1: we were a few weeks ago. The difference this time
• 15:54
  Speaker 1: may be that the regime is feeling so much economic
• 15:58
  Speaker 1: pressure and is desperate to get their footing back economically, financially,
• 16:04
  Speaker 1: and also figure out a way to end this war
• 16:07
  Speaker 1: with the US. As President Trump made it clear, if
• 16:10
  Speaker 1: I need to hit more targets or hit or ran harder,
• 16:13
  Speaker 1: he will do it, and that may be the leverages
• 16:16
  Speaker 1: needed to actually get a deal done.
• 16:20
  Speaker 2: Well.
• 16:20
  Speaker 1: Finally, some accountability for those that are frauding the taxpayers
• 16:25
  Speaker 1: of the United States of America. You may remember one
• 16:28
  Speaker 1: of the most outrageous fraud scandals in modern literally political
• 16:32
  Speaker 1: history came from the so called feeding our Future It
• 16:37
  Speaker 1: is happening in Minnesota, is what they wanted you to believe.
• 16:40
  Speaker 2: They were feeding our kids.
• 16:42
  Speaker 1: Now, the money was specifically designed to feed hungry children
• 16:47
  Speaker 1: during the pandemic. It never happened. Instead, it was turned
• 16:52
  Speaker 1: into luxury cars. I'm not talking about like BMW's, I'm
• 16:55
  Speaker 1: not talking about Mercedes. I'm talking about Lamborghinis and Ferraris
• 16:58
  Speaker 1: and Maserati and Bentley's. Yeah, it all went to people
• 17:03
  Speaker 1: that were scamming your tax dollars. It also went to mansions,
• 17:08
  Speaker 1: not houses, mansions, and even to millions that then turned
• 17:13
  Speaker 1: into tens of millions that then turned into they say,
• 17:16
  Speaker 1: hundreds of millions in overall fraud that went overseas and
• 17:21
  Speaker 1: oversees money transfers on top of the lavish lifestyles for
• 17:26
  Speaker 1: all the fraudsters, who prosecutors say still roughly a quarter
• 17:31
  Speaker 1: of a billion taxpayer dollars. Now this is just in
• 17:35
  Speaker 1: one city. And now finally one of the central figures
• 17:39
  Speaker 1: in the scandal is headed to prison for actual, real
• 17:43
  Speaker 1: long term jail time. We're talking about decades now. Other
• 17:47
  Speaker 1: suspects connected to the case made headlines after trying to
• 17:50
  Speaker 1: escape federal agents in a dramatic and shocking way as well.
• 17:55
  Speaker 1: Prosecutors say the Feeding Our Future scandal has now become
• 17:59
  Speaker 1: the largest COVID air fraud scheme that has been uncovered
• 18:03
  Speaker 1: in the US. The nonprofit was supposed to distribute these
• 18:07
  Speaker 1: meals to children. Instead, the investigators say, fake meal sites
• 18:12
  Speaker 1: were literally created, fake attendance rosters were filed. Forged documents
• 18:17
  Speaker 1: were then submitted, and then millions, and then tens, and
• 18:21
  Speaker 1: then hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars were stolen through
• 18:25
  Speaker 1: the fraudulent reimbursement claims that went unchecked, even though there
• 18:29
  Speaker 1: was massive warning signs, and even whistleblowers and Democrats chose
• 18:33
  Speaker 1: to look the other way. Now the center of the
• 18:36
  Speaker 1: case was Amy Bach, the founder and the executive director
• 18:41
  Speaker 1: of Feeding Our Future. A federal judge has finally sentenced
• 18:45
  Speaker 1: her to more than forty one years in prison, after
• 18:50
  Speaker 1: prosecutors described her as the mastermind behind the entire scheme.
• 18:55
  Speaker 1: The Department of Justice argued that not only did she
• 18:58
  Speaker 1: help oversee a criminal network that stole almost two hundred
• 19:02
  Speaker 1: and fifty million dollars from taxpayers under the guise of
• 19:05
  Speaker 1: feeding hungry children, but according to the prosecutors, the fraud
• 19:09
  Speaker 1: exploded during the pandemic, when oversight rules were loosened and
• 19:13
  Speaker 1: emergency money began flowing rapidly from Washington, d c. Feeding
• 19:18
  Speaker 1: our Future balloon from handling relatively small amounts of money
• 19:22
  Speaker 1: into controlling hundreds of millions in federal funds in an
• 19:26
  Speaker 1: incredibly short period of time. An investigators say The money
• 19:31
  Speaker 1: trail tells the entire story, from the luxury homes to
• 19:35
  Speaker 1: the expensive cars, to the massive amount of jewelry and
• 19:38
  Speaker 1: high end vacations. And then you had the insane cash
• 19:42
  Speaker 1: transfers and they didn't stay.
• 19:43
  Speaker 2: In the US. Oh no, the money went overseas.
• 19:47
  Speaker 1: Prosecutors save fraudsters involved in the scheme lived lavishly while
• 19:51
  Speaker 1: pretending to operate meal programs for needy children. But what's
• 19:56
  Speaker 1: making the headlines again right now is not just a sentencing,
• 20:00
  Speaker 1: is the unbelievable link some of the suspects went in
• 20:04
  Speaker 1: order to avoid federal arrest. One of the defendants connected
• 20:08
  Speaker 1: the broader investigation, according to authorities, attempted to flee federal
• 20:12
  Speaker 1: agents by jumping and it was caught on video from
• 20:17
  Speaker 1: a four story building during.
• 20:19
  Speaker 2: An FBI rate operation.
• 20:22
  Speaker 1: Now, I want you to imagine just the level of
• 20:24
  Speaker 1: panic and desperation the federal investigators were moving in. Instead
• 20:29
  Speaker 1: of surrendering peacefully, the prosecutors say, the suspect literally leaped
• 20:34
  Speaker 1: from the building the fourth floor, trying to escape capture.
• 20:37
  Speaker 1: That moment has now become symbolic of just how massive
• 20:41
  Speaker 1: and chaotic the investigation has become. Now the FBI and
• 20:45
  Speaker 1: the IRS Criminal Investigation Division, as well as Home Insecurity
• 20:50
  Speaker 1: and federal prosecutors have spent years unraveling what they described
• 20:54
  Speaker 1: as a sprawling criminal conspiracy involving dozens upon dozens of defendants,
• 21:00
  Speaker 1: because you need a lot of people to steal a
• 21:02
  Speaker 1: quarter of a billion dollars, they say. Nearly eighty people
• 21:06
  Speaker 1: have now been charged in connection with a scandal, and
• 21:09
  Speaker 1: more than sixty have either pleaded guilty or have been convicted.
• 21:14
  Speaker 1: And if you think the corruption stops there, well, unfortunately
• 21:17
  Speaker 1: it doesn't. During one of the earlier trials, prosecutors revealed
• 21:21
  Speaker 1: the associates tied to the case allegedly attempted to bribe
• 21:25
  Speaker 1: a djuror with a bag containing more than one hundred
• 21:28
  Speaker 1: and twenty thousand dollars in cash, a literal cash bribe
• 21:32
  Speaker 1: delivered to influence the outcome of the case. That's how
• 21:36
  Speaker 1: high the stakes have become. The federal judge, ever seeing
• 21:39
  Speaker 1: the sentencing, didn't mince words either. She described Bach as
• 21:43
  Speaker 1: standing at the center of a vortex of fraud. While
• 21:46
  Speaker 1: prosecutors push for an even longer prison sentence because of
• 21:49
  Speaker 1: the breathtaking scale of the theft and the damage done
• 21:53
  Speaker 1: to public trust, and now the fallout is well spreading
• 21:56
  Speaker 1: even further, and that's actually a good thing. Investigators are
• 22:01
  Speaker 1: now expanding scrutiny. They state it into additional taxpayer funded
• 22:05
  Speaker 1: programs in Minnesota and beyond, including allegations tied to medicaid fraud,
• 22:11
  Speaker 1: daycare assistance fraud, and many other pandemic air relief programs
• 22:17
  Speaker 1: that ballooned out of control. Investigators believe that feed our
• 22:21
  Speaker 1: Future scheme may have exposed broader weaknesses in government oversight
• 22:26
  Speaker 1: during COVID emergency spending, and Americans are asking now the
• 22:30
  Speaker 1: obvious question, how did this happen? Well, we know that
• 22:35
  Speaker 1: there were whistleblowers, we know that there were warning signs,
• 22:39
  Speaker 1: and we know that in liberal cities and liberal states
• 22:42
  Speaker 1: they look the other way on purpose because many of
• 22:45
  Speaker 1: the people committing the fraud were giving massive political donations
• 22:49
  Speaker 1: to the people in power. So you got to ask
• 22:52
  Speaker 1: the question, right, how to hundreds of millions of taxpayer
• 22:55
  Speaker 1: dollars disappear while officials fail to stop it? Follow the money?
• 23:00
  Speaker 1: How many other fraud schemes are still out there waiting
• 23:04
  Speaker 1: to be uncovered is the other question everyone should be asking. Remember,
• 23:08
  Speaker 1: this wasn't money stolen from some anonymous account. Prosecutors say
• 23:14
  Speaker 1: this was money allocated to feed children during a national
• 23:18
  Speaker 1: emergency that they were afraid would literally die or go
• 23:22
  Speaker 1: malnourished without it. That's why this story should infuriate everyone,
• 23:27
  Speaker 1: regardless of your political ideology. You had Americans that were working,
• 23:32
  Speaker 1: Americans that were paying taxes, Americans that were struggling through inflation,
• 23:37
  Speaker 1: economic hardship, all during COVID, including isolation, and while prosecutors
• 23:42
  Speaker 1: say criminals were allegedly exploiting the emergency programs for massive
• 23:46
  Speaker 1: personal enrichment on a staggering scale. Now the convictions are
• 23:51
  Speaker 1: piling up and prison sentences are finally growing longer, and
• 23:56
  Speaker 1: the Department of Justice is making it clear that the
• 23:58
  Speaker 1: investigation is actually far from over and maybe actually is
• 24:03
  Speaker 1: just beginning now. The dramatic escape attempt, well, the alleged
• 24:07
  Speaker 1: youuror bribe, the luxury lifestyles, the fake meal program, all
• 24:11
  Speaker 1: of it together also paints a picture of one of
• 24:13
  Speaker 1: the most brazen fraud operations that Americans have seen in decades.
• 24:18
  Speaker 1: And what's even more important is this question how many
• 24:22
  Speaker 1: politicians knew this was happening, and how many of those
• 24:25
  Speaker 1: politicians got donations and how many of those politicians were
• 24:28
  Speaker 1: in on it. So now the message is clear. Federal
• 24:32
  Speaker 1: prosecutors are saying this, More arrests and more prosecutions are coming,
• 24:37
  Speaker 1: and what you're witnessing now may not be the biggest
• 24:40
  Speaker 1: part of this investigation at all, and that should make
• 24:43
  Speaker 1: every fraudst are terrified today. Make sure you share this
• 24:47
  Speaker 1: podcast please wherever you can on social media so others
• 24:51
  Speaker 1: will hear it. Hit that subscriber auto download button, and
• 24:55
  Speaker 1: I'll see you back here tomorrow.