Newsweek reports the FBI added three men to its Most Wanted Fraudsters list, sharpening its public push against alleged fraud targeting taxpayers and investors.
FBI Director Kash Patel announced the additions of Manjit Singh Bedi, Onur Simsek and Bernhard Eugen Fritsch on Sept. 3, Newsweek reported. The account did not identify the year of that announcement.
The FBI uses the fraud list to spotlight people accused or convicted of major financial crimes and to seek public tips. The three cases involve food benefits, federal defense contracts and private investment money.
The bureau launched the list on June 4, 2026. Newsweek said its page featured 12 people, making it one of three officially sanctioned FBI most-wanted lists. Patel’s leadership has also faced congressional scrutiny over FBI travel spending.
Patel said four people on the list had already been caught in cases involving nearly $2 billion in alleged fraud. They had spent about 3,500 combined days on the run, or roughly nine and a half years.
Bedi operated a grocery store in Tacoma, Washington, Newsweek reported. Prosecutors allege that he fraudulently processed electronic benefit transfer transactions tied to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, then kept the proceeds.
The alleged conduct occurred between 2024 and 2025 and involved at least $600,000 in SNAP money. Authorities charged Bedi with wire fraud and other offenses, though the other charges were not identified.
Bedi remained a fugitive for nearly a year before his arrest in India, the FBI said. His capture made him the fifth person featured on the fraud list to be apprehended.
Deputy Assistant Attorney General Colin M. McDonald said the Justice Department’s Fraud Section would keep working with the FBI to pursue accused fraudsters wherever they flee. The bureau’s broader investigative work has also drawn attention in cases involving seized electronic devices and prominent political figures.
The Bedi allegations show why benefit fraud cannot be dismissed as harmless paperwork. Prosecutors say money meant for eligible households instead became proceeds retained through fraudulent store transactions.
Onur Simsek, a Turkish national, faces charges tied to an alleged scheme involving Department of Defense contracts. The FBI says the conduct ran from 2019 through 2022.
Investigators allege that Simsek and others used a front company to obtain federal contracts. They allegedly misrepresented the company’s abilities to U.S. officials and transferred proceeds to Turkey.
Simsek faces charges that include conspiracy to defraud the U.S. government, wire fraud and money laundering. Newsweek said he has been a fugitive since 2023 and was believed to be living in Turkey.
Federal fraud enforcement depends on investigators following evidence without political interference. That concern has surfaced in other disputes, including declassified FBI memos involving an alleged voter-registration fraud inquiry in Michigan.
The Simsek case concerns more than an ordinary business dispute. The FBI alleges that false claims helped a company obtain contracts from the federal government, with money later sent overseas.
Bernhard Eugen Fritsch’s case stands apart because a court has already convicted and sentenced him. He was convicted of wire fraud in California in April 2025.
The FBI alleges that Fritsch raised about $35 million for StarClub Inc. between 2014 and 2017. Authorities say he misrepresented the technology company’s financial performance and prospects to investors.
At least $7.3 million in investor funds allegedly went toward personal expenses. A court later ordered Fritsch to pay more than $26.8 million in restitution and imposed a $35,000 fine.
Fritsch allegedly fled to Mexico in June 2025 before a post-conviction hearing. Mexican authorities detained him, and he was later released from immigration custody with orders to check in regularly with an immigration court.
The FBI says Fritsch later fled to Munich, Germany. A court sentenced him in his absence in October 2025 to 15 years in federal prison.
The timeline leaves a sharp contrast between the three men. Bedi was arrested, Simsek remains charged and sought, while Fritsch has already been convicted and sentenced.
The FBI’s fraud list seeks tips from the public while warning about people linked to major financial cases. Its older Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list dates to 1950, while the Most Wanted Terrorists list followed the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
A public list can help law enforcement find fugitives, as Bedi’s arrest shows. But the bureau must also state each person’s legal status clearly: an allegation is not a conviction, while Fritsch’s sentence rests on a completed prosecution.
That distinction protects both due process and public trust. It also keeps attention where it belongs: on the charged conduct, the court record and the money allegedly taken.
Taxpayers and victims deserve fraud enforcement that follows the facts, respects due process and keeps pursuing those who flee accountability.