Trump Announces New Fraud Bounty Program, Nick Shirley First to Cash In
President Donald Trump is putting a price on fraudsters’ heads.
And for Americans willing to help expose fraud involving taxpayer dollars, that price could be quite lucrative.
Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance announced a new federal anti-fraud initiative Tuesday, offering Americans cash rewards for tips that help uncover fraud involving government programs, as reported by the New York Post.
The new Justice Department Fraud Whistleblower Incentive Program, or WHIP, will offer rewards of up to $30,000 for tips leading to federal fraud charges, with an initial funding pool of $25 million.
But Trump sweetened the deal during Tuesday’s Oval Office announcement, proposing an additional 1 percent commission if the funds are recovered.
“You could have stolen $2 trillion, or whatever the ultimate number is going to be, and at 1 percent people will make millions and millions of dollars for turning in what actually is a somewhat routine crime,” Trump said.
The president also volunteered to personally arbitrate disputes over who deserves a reward, explaining that competing claims could arise over who originally exposed fraudulent activity.
“I’ll determine whether or not the person is deserving… and I will be very generous,” he said.
And the administration already has its first intended recipient — conservative YouTube investigator Nick Shirley, whose investigations into alleged fraud at Minnesota day care centers attracted national attention last year.
Shirley, 24, was slated to receive a $10,000 check at Tuesday’s announcement, according to The Washington Post, although the New York Post reported that the check was not presented publicly.
Shirley’s videos featured active child care facilities that appeared empty, including one establishment whose sign infamously misspelled “learning” as “learing.”
“I couldn’t believe it when I saw that,” Shirley told Trump during the Oval Office event, referring to the misspelled sign.
The president praised Shirley’s investigative work, telling the young content creator, “It’s too bad that you had to ruin your youth to find that such bad people exist.”
The new reward program differs from existing federal whistleblower initiatives in one significant respect: The Justice Department said qualifying payments can be issued following the filing of criminal charges, rather than waiting until a case has been fully resolved.
Vance, who chairs the administration’s federal anti-fraud task force, also emphasized that the proposed 1 percent commission would not necessarily be restricted to criminal prosecutions.
“If you find the money and you help us recover it, then you benefit from the program,” he explained.
The vice president has made combating federal benefits fraud a major priority, including announcing last month that 750,000 Obamacare enrollees would be removed over suspected fraudulent enrollment, with another 450,000 under review.
The administration’s broader crackdown has also included withholding certain Medicaid reimbursements, suspending hundreds of purported hospice providers in California, and imposing restrictions on some Medicare equipment providers.
Americans interested in reporting suspected fraud can submit tips through the government’s fraud.gov website.
And with a $30,000 reward potentially waiting for successful tipsters — plus the possibility of a considerably larger commission — the administration is betting that financial incentives will encourage more Americans to help uncover fraud involving taxpayer dollars.
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