Group working on Trump's 'war on fraud' is run by accused fraudsters: report
The Trump administration's supposed "war on fraud" is benefiting from the support of a group of alleged fraudsters, according to new reporting.
Cuts to Medicaid and raids on daycare centers are part of the president's stated crackdown on fraud, which has been backed by a nonprofit called the State Financial Officers Foundation, according to reporting by The Lever.
State auditors and treasurers are part of the State Financial Officers Foundation, which throws its support behind Trump with reports and statements touting the war on fraud's success, The Lever reported.
However, the nonprofit's board president, Seth Metcalf, is facing corruption allegations, according to The Lever. Metcalf, a former Ohio deputy treasurer, allegedly colluded with board members of the state's teachers' pension fund to direct $65 billion to his investment firm, according to whistleblowers.
An Ohio judge wrote in a February ruling that the pension board members were "mere puppets" of Metcalf, The Lever noted. He reportedly penned documents accusing the pension board of "committing fraud" to pressure them, The Lever added.
Metcalf is also being sued for fraud and mismanagement related to an AI start-up's money, according to The Lever.
Meanwhile, the State Financial Officers Foundation's vice chair, Adam Crum, allegedly misused state funds while working as Alaska's revenue commissioner.
Crum allegedly tried to take $75 million from state reserve funds and invest it in a private equity fund, which a lawmaker described as "gross incompetence" because of the move's high risk, according to The Lever.
He also reportedly gave $8.5 million worth of contracts to a consulting firm that sponsored a glacier cruise for the State Financial Officers Foundation, according to reporting by the Juneau Independent.
Red states have called out the group for exaggerating fraud numbers, too. An independent auditor found that one of the nonprofit's members, who was Florida's chief financial officer, used a DOGE formula to misrepresent hurricane recovery efforts as massive misspending.
Democratic Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said one of the nonprofit's claims of fraud was "wildly inflated."
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