Kash Patel told the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday that the FBI arrested six people in the past three months in cases tied to more than $2 billion in fraud schemes. He paired that with a broader fraud push that he said includes federal program fraud, call center fraud, and work on FBI Ten Most Wanted fugitives cases.
Patel said those prosecutions have produced more than $17 billion in crypto and cash fraud prosecutions. He also said the FBI has prevented $1 billion in fraud from Americans before they were victimized by scam centers.
U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee hearing
The hearing was the FBI's second oversight hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Patel said agents established operations in the Middle East and Southeast Asia to identify high-traffic fraud areas and end operations at the centers. His account placed the bureau's fraud work inside a wider effort to disrupt scam networks before money moves through them.
Sen. Eric Schmidt praised Patel's work and said he wanted to thank him for a shift at the bureau toward law and order and putting bad guys in jail. Sen. Katie Britt said she supports Patel's efforts to go after fraud schemes across the country and said stiffer penalties should be codified.
Mazie Hirono and travel records
The hearing also turned to Patel's travel and expenses. Sen. Mazie Hirono asked whether he would provide records of his travel as FBI director, and Patel replied that he has taken the least amount of vacation days and has the highest rate of engagements during business days compared with previous directors.
Hirono also told Patel, “You have wasted untold taxpayer dollars driving around in foreign luxury cars, partying in Italy and flying a private jet to play golf and watch hockey.” Patel answered, “The fact remains that I am the most present, hardworking FBI director.”
Patel separately said moving FBI flight operations to Andrews Air Force Base instead of Reagan National Airport saved taxpayers $3.5 million. That figure put a dollar amount on one of the spending changes he used to defend his record at the bureau.
The six arrests leave one practical question unanswered for readers tracking the fraud cases: which defendants were taken into custody, and which schemes did each one allegedly help run?
