← The 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson
The 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson
Inside America’s Biggest Child-Relief Cash Grab plus New Policy Targets Illicit Funds in U.S. Banks
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Podcast Host / Advertiser
This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.
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Ben Ferguson
I understand why you're frustrated. Health care costs keep rising, but paychecks aren't keeping up. Maybe it's time for the big drug companies and hospital monopolies to look in the mirror. They set health care prices and they're why your care is too expensive. When prices keep rising, someone has to step in and negotiate. For families, America's health insurance providers are fighting every day to bring health care costs down. Paid for by the Affordable Health Care Initiative. Amazon Health AI presents Painful Thoughts why
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Podcast Guest / Advertiser
did I search the Internet for answers to my cold sore problem? Now I'm stuck down a rabbit hole filled with images of alarmingly graphic source in various stages of ooze. I can clear my search history, but I can never unsee that.
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Public Investing Representative
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Donald Trump
Look, it's a failed country. Everybody knows it. They don't have electricity. They don't have money. They don't have really anything. They don't have food. And we're going to help them along and we're going to help them because the people, because number one, I want to help them on a humanitarian basis. But we have the Cuban American population, much of it living in Miami and Florida. That's a great group of people, amazing group of people, industrious, just they're great Americans.
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Ben Ferguson
You're listening to the the 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson.
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Good Friday morning. Nice to have you with us on the 47 Morning Update. And we've got two stories for you. First up finally, real accountability and decades of jail time for the fraudsters who were stealing money from the taxpayers and claiming they were feeding children. We'll have that story for you in a moment. Also, the Trump administration has moved on illegal immigrants as well as cartels, money launderers and those in China that are defrauding Americans with new banking rules that could have a massive impact. So what does that look like? All that in a second. It's the 47 Morning Update and it starts right now.
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Story number one.
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Well, finally, some accountability for those that are defrauding the taxpayers of the United States of America. You may remember one of the most outrageous fraud scandals in modern literally political history came from the so called Feeding Our Future. It is happening in Minnesota is what they wanted you to believe they were feeding our kids. Now, the money was specifically designed to feed hungry children during the pandemic. It never happened. Instead, it was turned into luxury cars. I'm not talking about like BMWs. I'm not talking about Mercedes. I'm talking about Lamborghinis and Ferraris and Maseratis and Bentleys. Yeah, it all went to people that were scamming your tax dollars. It also went to mansions, not houses, mansions, and even to millions that then turned into tens of millions that then turned into, they say, hundreds of millions in overall fraud that went overseas and overseas money transfers on top of the lavish lifestyles for all the fraudsters who prosecutors say stole roughly a quarter of of a billion taxpayer dollars. Now this is just in one city. And now finally, one of the central figures in the scandal is headed to prison for actual real long term jail time. We're talking about decades. Now, other suspects connected to the case made headlines after trying to escape federal agents in a dramatic and shocking way as well. Prosecutors say the Feeding Our Future scandal has now become the largest Covid air fraud scheme that has been uncover in the U.S. the nonprofit was supposed to distribute these meals to children. Instead, the investigators say fake meal sites were literally created. Fake attendance rosters were filed, forged documents were then submitted and then millions and then tens and then hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars were stolen through the fraudulent reimbursement claims that went unchecked even though there was massive warning signs and even whistleblowers and and Democrats chose to look the other way. Now at the center of the case was Amy Bach, the founder and the executive director of Feeding Our Future. A federal judge has finally sentenced her to more than 41 years in prison after prosecutors described her as the mastermind behind the entire scheme. The Department of Justice argued that not only did she help oversee a criminal network that stole almost $250 million from taxpay under the guise of feeding hungry children. But according to the prosecutors, the fraud exploded during the pandemic when oversight rules were loosened and emergency money began flowing rapidly from Washington D.C. feeding our future balloon from handling relatively small amounts of money into controlling hundreds of millions in federal funds in an incredibly short period of time. And investigators say the money trail tells the entire story. From the luxury homes to the expensive cars to the massive amount of jewelry and high end vacations and then you had the insane cash transfers and they didn't stay in the U.S. oh no, the money went overseas. Prosecutors say fraudsters involved in the scheme lived lavishly while pretending to operate meal programs for needy children. But what's making the headlines again right now is not just the sentencing is the unbelievable link. Some of the suspects went in order to avoid federal arrest. One of the defendants connected the broader investigation, according to authorities, attempted to flee federal agents by jumping and it was caught on video from a four story building during an FBI raid operation. Now I want you to imagine just the level of panic and desperation and the federal investigators were moving in instead of surrendering peacefully. The prosecutors say the suspect literally leaped from the building, the fourth floor, trying to escape capture. That moment has now become symbolic of just how massive and chaotic the investigation has become. Now the FBI and the IRS Criminal Investigation Division as well as Homeland Security and federal prosecutors have spent years unraveling what they described as a sprawling criminal conspiracy involving dozens upon dozens of defendants. Cuz you need a lot of people to steal a quarter of a billion dollars. They say nearly 80 people have now been charged in connection with the scandal and more than 60 have either pleaded guilty or have been convicted. And if you think the Corruption stops there. Well, unfortunately, it doesn't. During one of the earlier trials, prosecutors revealed the associates tied to the case allegedly attempted to bribe a juror with a bag containing more than $120,000 in cash. A literal cash bribe delivered to influence the outcome of the case. That's how high the stakes have become. The federal judge overseeing the sentencing didn't mince words either. She described Bach as standing at the center of a vortex of fraud while prosecutors pushed for an even longer prison sentence because of the breathtaking scale of the theft and the damage done to public trust. And now the fallout is, well, spreading even further, and that's actually a good thing. Federal investigators are now expanding scrutiny, they stated, into additional taxpayer funded programs in Minnesota and beyond, including allegations tied to Medicaid fraud, daycare assistance fraud, and many other pandemic air relief programs that ballooned out of control. Investigators believe the feed our future scheme may have exposed broader weaknesses in government oversight during COVID emergency spending. And Americans are asking now the obvious question, how did this happen? Well, we know that there were whistleblowers, we know that there were warning signs, and we know that in liberal cities and liberal states, they look the other way on purpose because many of the people committing the fraud were giving massive political donations to the people in power. So you got to ask the question, right? How do hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars disappear while officials fail to stop it? Follow the money. How many other fraud schemes are still out there waiting to be uncovered is the other question everyone should be asking. Remember, this wasn't money stolen from some anonymous account. Prosecutors say this was money allocated to feed children during a national emergency that they were afraid would literally die or go malnourished without it. That's why this story should infuriate everyone, regardless of your political ideology. You had Americans that were working, Americans that were paying taxes, Americans that were struggling through inflation, economic hardship all during COVID including isolation. And while prosecutors say criminals were allegedly exploiting the emergency programs for massive personal enrichment on a staggering scale, now the convictions are piling up and prison sentences are finally growing longer. And the Department of Justice is making it clear that the investigation is actually far from over and maybe actually is just beginning. Now, the dramatic escape attempt. Well, the alleged juror bribe, the luxury lifestyles, the fake meal program, all of it together, also paints a picture of one of the most brazen fraud operations that Americans have seen in decades. And what's even more important is this question. How many politicians knew this was happening? And how many of those politicians got Donations and how many of those politicians were in on it. So now the message is clear. Federal prosecutors are saying this. More arrests and more prosecutions are coming. And what you're witnessing now may not be the biggest part of this investigation at all. And that should make every fraudster terrified today.
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Now, story number two.
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President Donald Trump promised that he was going to go after illegal immigrants. And one way he was going to do it is make it much harder for them to operate when it comes especially to their businesses in the United States of America. Well, President Trump has now made good on that promise and has signed a new executive order that is directing federal banking regulators, as well as the Treasury Department and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to tighten their oversight on bank accounts, on bank loans and financial services connected to people who are in the United States of America illegally. Now, this move could have enormous implications for millions of people and for banks across the country that want to stay in compliance. It also tells a very clear message that the future of immigration enforcement in America is changing. Now, the executive order was titled Restoring Integrity to America's Financial System. And the White House says the goal is actually really simple. Stop criminal organizations, illegal labor networks, cartel money laundering operations, and undocumented workers using fake or questionable identities from exploiting the US Banking system. Now, this isn't just about immigration. The administration is also framing this as a national security issue, a financial crime issue, and a taxpayer protection issue all at the same time. According to the White House, gaps in banking oversight have unfortunately allowed drug cartels and human trafficking networks, as well as Chinese linked money laundering operations and illegal label brokers, to move billions of dollars through American financial institutions with limited or no scrutiny. Now, the executive order specifically cites investigations involving Mexican cartels as well as Chinese laundering operations that allegedly use US Based bank accounts to move enormous amounts of illicit money. And now the Trump administration says ignorance is no longer bliss. If you're in the banking industry, they say the era of don't ask questions banking is over or you're gonna face the consequences. Now, here's what the new directive actually does do. First, the Treasury Department has been ordered to issue formal advisories, to issue formal advisories to banks, warning them about the administration, what they describe as red flags connected to illegal immigration and underground labor operations. Now, those red flags include suspicious payroll activities, employers paying workers off the books, repeated cash withdrawals on a regular basis tied to payroll cycles, shell companies hiding the true owners of the accounts, labor trafficking indicators, and the use of individual tax identification numbers, known as ITINs, in situations where lawful Immigration status cannot be verified. Now, this has been exploited for quite some time and they've been set up this way. And Democrats knew it, but they were fine with it. And so were the banks. Because when you have billions of dollars coming in and out of the system, why would you want to stop it? Well, now, many illegal immigrants have used these ITIN numbers instead of Social Security numbers to literally open their bank accounts and file their taxes or even apply for a loan. An ITIN is issued by the IRS for tax filing purposes, but it is not proof of legal immigration status. And the administration now says banks should view some of those accounts as higher risk and subject them to enhanced scrutiny. The second thing the order says is this. It directs the regulators to rewrite parts of the Bank Secrecy act as well as the know your customer rules as the bank describes them. It's basically the same anti money laundering regulations that banks already abide by and already use to fight terrorism financing as well as organized crime. So it's not as if the banks are having to learn something new here. They just can't look the other way or deliberately, on purpose, not ask questions to keep the money flowing. Now, the White House wants immigration status and work authorization to potentially become part of the risk of analysis that banks use when deciding whether to open accounts or issue loans or extend credit. Now, to be clear, the administration backed away from one of the most aggressive earlier ideas. That was a proposal that would have required banks to collect citizenship documents from every customer banking groups. Yeah, guess what? Their lobbyists pushed back hard against the plan. They warned that it could create massive compliance costs and paperwork nightmares. But make no mistake, this order still dramatically changes the direction of federal policy towards banking. Banks are now being told they may need to consider immigration status, deportation risk and employment authorization as part of financial risk assessments. That's something they did not have to do before, which allowed for the massive loophole. And then that leads to the third major component of the President's executive order, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. They've been instructed to examine whether lenders should factor possible deportation or loss of wages into the, quote, ability to repay standards for mortgages, auto loans, credit cards, and other lending products. Think about how significant that is. Donald Trump understands that. Essentially arguing that if someone is in the country illegally and could be deported any time, that creates major financial risk for lenders and ultimately for the banking system itself. That's something the banks didn't have to deal with until now. And the White House says extending credit to people who may suddenly lose employment due to Immigration enforcement creates what is called a structural ability to repay deficiency. Now, supporters of this move in the banking industry say this is long overdue common sense approach. And they argue that American banks should know who they're doing business with, and they should know if they're doing business with people that are connected to cartels or human traffickers or drug trafficking or sex traffickers or illegal border labor operations, as well as the underground economies that thrive when financial systems ignore immigration fraud as well as identity theft concerns. The Treasury Secretary, Scott Bessant, put it bluntly recently when he was asked about this, saying, quote, how do you know your customer if you don't know if they have legal or illegal status? And politically, this is exactly the kind of move that Trump advocates, supporters and voters have been demanding for years. Conservatives have argued that illegal immigration is sustained not just by open borders, but access to American jobs, American banking, American loans, American housing, and the financial system that allows people to establish lives inside this country. On top of all the government aid that illegal immigrants can still get in this country every single day. The Trump administration is now clearly trying to attack the infrastructure directly. Critics, they're sounding the alarm. They're terrified immigration advocates, right, Those advocating for illegal immigrants. And of course, liberal groups say this could create what they call a mass debanking event, pushing millions of immigrants out of traditional banking system entirely. That actually may be the whole point. I don't want illegal immigrants in this country taking advantage of our system. And much of the money, by the way, doesn't stay in America. It goes back to their country of origin. You may remember just a few years ago, the number two stimulus in Mexico's economy was illegal immigrants in America sending money back home. It outpaced. Are you ready for this? Their oil exports in Mexico. So is this a big problem? You better believe it. And that's exactly why the President is making this much about his larger Trump strategy on immigration. Border enforcement, workplace enforcement, visa policy, tax policy, welfare eligibility, and now financial regulation to increase pressure on illegal immigration from every angle. This also leads to more self deportation. The message from the White House is unmistakable. If you're in the United States of America legally, this administration does not want you fully participating in the American financial system. That is the policy shift that we're witnessing in real time. And based on the reaction already from the left and many of those in Washington and Wall street and the immigration advocacy groups, the fight is big and they know just how powerful this move is going to be.
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Thank you for listening to the 47 Morning Update. With Ben Ferguson. Please make sure you hit subscribe wherever you're listening to this podcast right now. And for more in depth news, also subscribe to the Ben Ferguson Podcast and we will see you back here tomorrow.
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Podcast Host / Advertiser
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Podcast Guest / Advertiser
Wasn't that delicious?
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Ben Ferguson
So good. Your bill, ladies. I got it.
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Podcast Host / Advertiser
No, I got it.
- [22:59]
Ben Ferguson
Seriously, I insist. I assisted first. Oh, don't be silly. You don't be silly. People with the Wells Fargo Active Cash credit card prefer to pay because they earn unlimited 2% cash rewards on purchases. Okay. Rock, paper, scissors for it. Rock, paper, scissors. Shoot. No, the Wells Fargo Active Cash credit card. Visit Wells Fargo.com ActiveCash Terms apply.
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