Greek shipowners accused of breaching international sanctions by transporting oil and commodities from Russia, Iran, and Venezuela; Greek and Israeli figures linked to the trade in illegal surveillance software such as Intellexa’s Predator; and Greek arms dealers supplying the Iranian regime—all of them either already sanctioned by the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) or facing imminent designation—now have an additional reason for concern.
On Friday, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) launched a dedicated online portal to confidentially receive whistleblower reports related to fraud, money laundering, and violations of U.S. sanctions. The initiative was announced last month in Minnesota by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who said the department will offer financial rewards to eligible whistleblowers whose information leads to successful enforcement actions.
During his visit, which focused on supporting President Donald Trump’s campaign against large-scale fraud in U.S. government benefit programs, Bessent outlined a broader Treasury strategy to intensify financial crime enforcement. Measures include investigations into money services businesses, improved reporting systems designed to accelerate prosecutions and asset recovery, closer coordination with financial institutions to disrupt fraud networks, and enhanced training for law enforcement agencies in the use of financial intelligence. The Internal Revenue Service is also expected to establish a specialized task force to address the misuse of funds by tax-exempt organizations.
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“President Trump has been clear that Americans have a right to know that their tax dollars are not being diverted to fund acts of global terror or to finance lavish lifestyles for fraudsters,” Bessent said. “At Treasury, we follow the money. We did it with the mafia, we did it with the cartels, and we are doing it again. We will offer whistleblower payments to anyone who can provide the who, what, when, where, and how of fraud and money laundering.”
FinCEN’s Office of the Whistleblower will accept tips related to violations and conspiracies under the Bank Secrecy Act, U.S. sanctions programs, and other laws central to safeguarding the integrity of the U.S. financial system and national security. Individuals whose information leads to enforcement actions may be eligible for monetary awards.
The new whistleblower mechanism is expected to have implications beyond the United States, including for the Greek and Cypriot banking sectors.
Significant volumes of funds—amounting to tens or even hundreds of millions of euros and dollars—are believed to have passed, or to continue passing, through these financial systems in connection with illicit fuel trading and the transfer of weapons or security technologies by entities already subject to U.S. sanctions.
FinCEN has encouraged whistleblowers to submit information as early as possible and to provide detailed, well-documented evidence to support their claims. Further information on the program is available on the agency’s official website.
