Bessent wants to appoint a new senior official at the Treasury Department to scrutinize the finances of charities that engage in excessive political activities, lobbying, or even fraud.

The secretary’s recently departed chief of staff, Michael Friedman, was tasked with drumming up some names for possible candidates before he left to join the SEC three weeks ago.

Bessent’s recently departed chief of staff, Michael Friedman, was tasked with drumming up a list of names who could fill the position for the three remaining years of the Trump administration. REUTERS

It comes after The Post broke the news in December that the Treasury Department was eyeing a crackdown on nonprofit organizations that enjoy cushy tax-free benefits amid fears that some groups have been funneling “dark money” into shady political activities.

The official will be “empowered to act as an interagency government task force to tackle ‘abusive’ 501(c)3 organizations,” said a source briefed on the matter, referring to the parts of the IRS code that govern how charities are treated.

“That person has to be committed for the next three years and not someone who is going to use it as a stepping stone,” the insider added.

A Treasury Department spokesman referred The Post back to a Jan. 9 statement that said Secretary Bessent “remains committed to preventing fraudulent nonprofits from taking advantage of the American taxpayer.”

The search for a charity cop comes after the Minnesota Somali fraud scandal, when it emerged that nonprofits falsely claimed to provide meals to needy children and skimmed off federal funds to spend on luxury travel and real estate.

Start your day with all you need to know

Morning Report delivers the latest news, videos, photos and more.

Thanks for signing up!

During the scandal, a letter signed by Rep. Jason Smith (R-Mo.), the chair of the House of Representatives’ Ways and Means Committee, alleged that a charity called Feeding Our Future had ties to the Al-Shabaab terrorist group.

The leader of the organization was convicted last year of hatching a $250 million welfare fraud scheme. It shuttered its doors in February 2022, when the FBI first opened an investigation into allegations of corruption.

The New York Post cover for Dec. 30, 2025.

The Israel-bashing Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR, has also come under scrutiny.

The Post broke the news earlier this month that it could lose its nonprofit status under Bessent’s crackdown.

CAIR, a key organizer of pro-Palestinian rallies on US campuses, has long been accused of accepting money from entities close to Qatar.

In November, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott designated the group a terrorist organization, accusing it of having direct ties with Hamas and vowing to have the state attorney general “sue to shut them down” in Texas. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis followed suit in December.

The Post has sought comment from CAIR.

“Of course, there are conservative groups that are set up as nonprofits, as well, but they aren’t being funded by foreign adversaries,” said one well-placed source.

CAIR has long been accused of receiving money from entities with close links to Qatar. REUTERS

A 501(c)(3) is a nonprofit organization recognized by the Internal Revenue Service as tax-exempt because it operates for a public benefit.

This designation covers groups dedicated to religious, charitable, scientific, literary, or educational purposes.

While political campaigning is banned, lobbying is permitted, but only within very strict limits.

If an organization devotes too much time or money to influencing legislation, it risks being reclassified as a different type of entity that does not offer tax deductions to its donors.

Jonathan Schanzer, the executive director at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, warned that any steps taken against such groups must be “apolitical” and grounded in facts and law.

“If this looks like it is score settling on the part of the administration, it will undermine the whole effort,” he told The Post. “It’s got to be done by the book.”

The post Scott Bessent eyes ‘top cop’ for Treasury to crack down on shady nonprofits appeared first on Our Story Insight.

Would the long-time securities lawyer and regulator investigate Chinese companies for what one senator believes are wanton and blatant violations of US disclosure laws that have gone unchecked for years?

Atkins said he would, which helped him squeeze by in the confirmation process with just 52 votes.

Paul Atkins takes part in a strategic and policy CEO discussion with U.S. President Donald Trump in the Eisenhower Execution Office Building in Washington, U.S., April 11, 2017. REUTERS

That exchange, between GOP Sen. Rick Scott from Florida and Atkins, hasn’t been reported, though The Post has learned that the usually mild-mannered Scott didn’t mince words with Atkins.

Scott said his confirmation vote was contingent on Atkins ramping up scrutiny on Chinese companies — “delisting” and removing those suspected of violating US laws from US exchanges — as soon as he got into office.

More From Charles Gasparino

The crackdown would be significant, probably one of the biggest the SEC has undertaken in its history. Nearly 300 Chinese companies, representing more than $1 trillion in market value, trade on US markets, namely the New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq Composite.

Many or maybe all of them, depending on whom you speak with, could be delisted.

The controversy over Chinese companies with public shares trading here has been brewing for years. Critics believe giving China access to our markets and public capital has fueled its quest for military and economic dominance. In 2020 during Trump’s first term, he signed into law provisions that give regulators the ability to delist China Inc. for ­violations of disclosure rules.

Among the concerns of lawmakers are that Chinese companies fail to properly account for Chinese Communist Party influence and ownership of their enterprises, and that they use slave labor of dissidents as part of their normal business operations. American investors in China Inc. will have little recourse if they are defrauded by a rouge ­nation.

Chinese flags fly above apartment buildings in Beijing on April 12, 2025. AFP via Getty Images

Biden’s roadblock

According to congressional sources, efforts to crack down on these alleged abuses were stymied by the Biden administration, namely its SEC chief, Gary Gensler, now a business professor at MIT. (Gensler didn’t respond to a request for comment.) The debate was largely confined to think tanks and the halls of Congress.

No longer. With Trump back in the White House, his trade war is heating up, with a particular emphasis on all things China. The delisting effort can now pick up steam. 

Atkins, who must report not just to the president but a GOP-controlled Congress for oversight, will be under pressure by Scott & Co. to finally crack down. 

These moves will put both major US exchanges in a tight spot, of course. The NYSE and the Nasdaq usually delist companies piecemeal when they fail to meet financial listing requirements or are indicted for fraud. Here they would be chopping out of their balance sheets major tech firms and retailers, such as Chinese online retailer Alibaba, that pay a lot of money to trade in the US and attract capital from our markets.

Paul Atkins during a Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee confirmation hearing in Washington, DC, US, on Thursday, March 27, 2025. Bloomberg via Getty Images

It would be one of the most chaotic corporate actions the exchanges have ever undertaken, and you can’t say the exchanges shouldn’t have seen it coming. The NYSE listed Alibaba even as the once outspoken Jack Ma, its founder, came under the thumb of the Chinese Communist Party. He seemingly disappeared from public view following some minor criticism he made about China’s bank regulations.

The listing ignored some interesting language in Alibaba’s “prospectus” (the official document for the IPO), which discloses “risks related to doing business in the People’s Republic of China,” where the “economy differs from the economies of most developed countries in many respects including the extent of government involvement . . .”

Here’s what may have caused blindness to all of the above: The NYSE charges as much as $500,000 plus various additional fees for companies like Alibaba (with a market cap of $250 billion). A US listing on the famed “Big Board” goes a long way in getting US investors to buy the stock, even as critics allege those shares finance the economic might of one of the most repressive regimes on Earth.

Charlie Gasparino has his finger on the pulse of where business, politics and finance meet

Sign up to receive On The Money by Charlie Gasparino in your inbox every Thursday.

Thanks for signing up!

A spokeswoman for the NYSE provided this explanation: “NYSE is obligated to be nondiscriminatory in the application of its SEC-approved listings standards.” 

A press official for Alibaba didn’t return a request for comment. An SEC spokeswoman declined to ­comment. 

The other big US exchange, the Nasdaq, also lusted for lucrative Chinese company listings, so much so that it carved out a loophole in its controversial and now defunct board-diversity rules. These rules prodded US companies to appoint a certain number of women, minorities and LGBTQ+ people to boards.

A screen displays the Dow Jones Industrial Average and other final trading numbers after the closing bell on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., April 11, 2025. REUTERS

It didn’t apply to China Inc. That’s right, no mandate from the Nasdaq to force Chinese-listed companies to appoint oppressed ethnic and religious minorities. 

Nasdaq had no comment.

End ‘golden shares’

Again, all this might be changing thanks to Scott’s efforts. He believes US investors should know how their money is being used when they buy a Chinese stock, or an index fund that contains Chinese public companies. In addition to his pressuring of Atkins (who declined to comment), Scott’s been pushing legislation that would seek to end China Inc.’s use of so-called “golden shares.”

That’s a special type of stock held by the CCP that he believes gives it control over these companies outside of US disclosure rules, a charge Alibaba has faced in the past.

 “Scott is obsessed with this issue,” said one person close to the senator.

The post The heat is on for newly confirmed SEC chairman Paul Atkins to crack down on Chinese companies appeared first on Our Story Insight.