Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and John Fetterman (D-Pa.) are urging the U.S. Department of the Treasury to accelerate a long-delayed whistleblower program to expose money laundering and terrorist financing.
In a letter sent to Scott Bessent, the U.S. Treasury secretary, and Andrea Gacki, director of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, on Tuesday, the lawmakers said that “an effective FinCEN whistleblower program is a critical tool for America’s ongoing fight against terrorists, drug-traffickers and sanctioned state actors who are threats to our national security.”
Congress created the program more than five years ago, but Grassley and Fetterman stated that FinCEN has yet to finalize the regulations or establish a dedicated website for whistleblowers to submit tips.
The senators urged the agency to “finalize its rules and expeditiously pay out awards to incentivize future whistleblowers who put their livelihoods and often lives on the line to help law enforcement find and stop the flow of illicit funds to criminal cartels, terrorists and sanctioned state actors.”
The letter highlighted cases including Nazem Ahmad, who used art and diamonds to launder $160 million to fund Hezbollah, Chinese money-laundering networks funneling opiate profits into the United States and ISIS and Houthi groups using looted antiquities to move money.
“Kremlin cronies, North Korea and Iran continue to find loopholes in our sanctions and money laundering compliance system,” they added, noting that they introduced a bipartisan Art Market Integrity Act in July to require “money-laundering compliance by art dealers and auction houses.”
“This bill would close a loophole that allows illicit funds to flow through the over $25 billion domestic art market,” Grassley and Fetterman wrote.
“Whistleblowers are a critical and effective tool that can be used to help law enforcement uncover these and other sophisticated schemes to launder money and fund terrorism,” the letter said.
