The Fraud Division’s Enforcement Priorities
Summary
Memorandum of the U.S. Department of Justice National Fraud Enforcement Division, dated 13 August 2026, from Assistant Attorney General Colin M. McDonald to All Fraud Division Personnel, Re: The Fraud Division's Enforcement Priorities. The memorandum states that the Fraud Division's mission is to prosecute fraud in the United States, no matter its size or complexity, and cites a Government Accountability Office estimate of annual fraud losses between $233 billion to $521 billion. It says the Division will grow to approximately five hundred attorneys and staff by August 24, 2026. It states that Fraud Division attorneys will prioritize fraud involving (A) public trust and financial integrity, (B) health care, (C) internal revenue, (D) global trade and commerce, and (E) corporate misconduct.
Summary drafted by a model from the document's text below and checked by script against that text before publication. It is a navigation aid, not a reading of what the document proves. Where AI is used
Cite this document
“The Fraud Division’s Enforcement Priorities.”
Original at www.justice.gov. Archived at Pandemic Darlings, https://pandemicdarlings.com/source-documents/doj-memo-aag-mcdonald-fraud-division-enforcement-priorities-2026-08-13-6491dfd8ad/
, SHA-256 03aaa962adeaaa5e6609378b0f4182b5ced3c2f6e90fdac2b9a025e1294c6192.Full text
U.S. Department of Justice
Colin M. McDonald
Assistant Attorney General
National Fraud Enforcement Division
Washington, D.C.
13 August 2026
MEMORANDUM
From: Colin M. McDonald COLIN Digitally signed by COLIN
MCDONALD
Assistant Attorney General MCDONALD Date: 2026.08.12 16:13:58
-04'00'
To: All Fraud Division Personnel
Re: The Fraud Division’s Enforcement Priorities
The National Fraud Enforcement Division (the “Fraud Division”) has a clear
mission: to prosecute fraud in the United States, no matter its size or complexity.
This mission is critical to restoring public confidence in the federal government’s
ability to responsibly steward taxpayer dollars. The Government Accountability
Office recently estimated that the federal government loses between $233 billion to
$521 billion annually to fraud—with other models showing even higher annual losses.
These shocking figures alone are worth our full and complete attention. And there is
so much more at stake than simply dollars and cents: unabated fraud inflicts just as
much damage to the hearts and souls of Americans as it does to their wallets.
Given the fraud epidemic gripping the country, President Donald J. Trump
announced the creation of the Fraud Division earlier this year, calling on us to
activate the tools of justice more than ever before to combat fraud. In only a few
months, leveraging our broad mandate, an infusion of resources from across
government, and state-of-the-art technology, the Fraud Division has stepped forward
to lead in the whole-of-government effort to fight fraud. We will continue to work
tirelessly and without fear or favor to ensure that fraudsters who undermine the
financial integrity of the United States and defraud Americans are rapidly brought
to justice. We will not rest until we have restored public confidence that the
Department of Justice can and will vigorously protect Americans from fraudsters
intent on stealing the wealth of America.
I am excited for the road ahead. Together, we will pursue the worst actors—
those who prey on the vulnerable and exploit the generosity of Americans in pursuit
of illicit profits. We will aggressively and efficiently prosecute crime, exercising
reasoned judgment in pursuit of justice at every turn. We will accomplish this
Page 1 of 6
ambitious but surmountable task by targeting frauds that pose the greatest threats
to the American public.
I. LEADING THE FIGHT AGAINST FRAUD
Since launching earlier this year, the Fraud Division has quickly established
a nationwide footprint, prosecuting complex crimes representing billions of dollars in
fraud. These immediate successes mark the beginnings of a sea change in fraud
enforcement by the federal government. The Department is reorganizing substantial
resources from other Department components to the Fraud Division, which will
increase our headcount to approximately five hundred attorneys and staff by August
24, 2026. The Division will not stop there. With the support of Department
leadership, we will continue to rapidly grow for the next two years. I have put in place
an aggressive plan to significantly increase the number of Division personnel
dedicated to fighting fraud.
As we deploy these considerable resources, we are building the most
sophisticated, innovative, and data-driven white-collar law enforcement component
in the world, uniquely positioned to fight fraud at every level. I am pleased to
announce that the Fraud Division will consist of multiple specialized litigating
sections consistent with the attached organizational chart. Fraud Division
prosecutors will be supported by asset recovery attorneys and investigators, top-flight
appellate counsel, a dedicated privilege review team, corporate enforcement experts,
automated litigation support, a cross-disciplinary team of experts in data science, and
cutting-edge technology and resources. We are organizing the Division to be lean, flat,
and agile, reducing excessive bureaucratic oversight so that the Fraud Division’s
career prosecutors—deployed across the country to work in concert with United
States Attorneys’ Offices—can focus on following the facts and charging violations of
the law.
Intent on attracting, training, and retaining exceptional white-collar
prosecutors, the Fraud Division will have a robust talent development pipeline. New
attorneys joining the Division will typically begin their careers with best-in-class
training in our National Enforcement Section, where they will prosecute cases across
the Division’s portfolio. Our task force incubation program will empower and launch
emerging leaders who bring new ideas to the fight against fraud.
Leveraging our expertise, we have set national priorities for fraud
enforcement, working closely with United States Attorneys, the Civil and Criminal
Divisions, federal law enforcement, executive agencies, and state and local partners
to ensure the fraud-fighting apparatus is laser-focused on protecting the American
people. We have already established new partnerships, breaking down data barriers
and eliminating silos in pursuit of more efficient and effective fraud detection and
prosecution.
Page 2 of 6
II. COMBATING FRAUD IN ALL ITS FORMS
Fraud schemes exploit a variety of sectors—health care, defense, technology,
tax, trade, and many others—harming vulnerable people and undermining trust in
the American way of life. Reflecting technological innovation and economic
expansion, fraud schemes have grown in complexity. Fraudsters perpetrating these
schemes are not just isolated actors; they form criminal conspiracies, often spanning
international borders. For the first time in history, the Department of Justice has a
division dedicated to one mission: fighting fraud.
To ensure efficiency and maximize the effectiveness of the Division, we will
continue to focus resources principally on prosecuting frauds that threaten the
health, safety, security, and prosperity of Americans—especially the most vulnerable
among us, including children, the elderly, and the sick or disabled. Fraud Division
attorneys therefore will prioritize fraud involving (A) public trust and financial
integrity, (B) health care, (C) internal revenue, (D) global trade and commerce, and
(E) corporate misconduct.
A. Public Trust and Financial Integrity
The United States has the largest economy in the world. It generates enormous
wealth and prosperity for its citizens and supports a robust government working to
advance their interests. Unfortunately, far too many have abused the trust of the
American people, stealing hundreds of billions of dollars a year, if not more. These
schemes affect all aspects of daily life—public and private—and threaten our safety
and security, draining our wealth and sowing distrust in society. The Fraud Division
will work closely with federal law enforcement and other partners across the
government to prioritize investigations and prosecutions of organizations and
individuals who defraud our government, steal taxpayer dollars, corrupt our
economy, or defraud Americans.
Prosecuting government procurement fraud is a critical priority. Contracting
fraud schemes, including defective pricing, bid rigging, self-dealing, bribery, product
substitution, and billing frauds, corrupt our government, reduce the quality of
services provided to the American people, and often threaten our national security
and military readiness.
Prosecutors must also focus on protecting the financial integrity of our
government programs. Benefit and grant programs—from student loans to child care,
veterans’ benefits to nutritional supplements, and disaster relief to small business
programs—help drive our economy and provide support to our most vulnerable
citizens. Fraudsters stealing from these programs, particularly those impacting
children, can severely hurt families by reducing access to services, creating financial
burdens, and undermining trust in public assistance programs. For too long, lax
oversight allowed bad actors—often foreign nationals—to exploit these programs for
Page 3 of 6
personal enrichment at the expense of hard-working Americans and their financial
security. That era has come to an end.
The Fraud Division will bring to justice those who abuse the public trust for
their own benefit. And we will vigorously protect the vibrancy of the American
economy, prosecuting those who cheat our markets and compromise the financial
integrity of American consumers.
B. Health Care
The United States provides the best and most innovative health care in the
world. But health care spending remains a growing financial burden, made much
worse by rampant fraud on government and private insurers. National health care
expenditures are expected to grow from over $3 trillion a year to over $7 trillion, and
estimates are that between 3–10% of that amount is lost to fraud. Home health aide
and hospice scams directly impact vulnerable elderly Americans and erode patient
care. Kickbacks and companies that cut corners to deceive regulators about the
nature of health care services or products deny patients the ability to make informed
health care decisions and degrade the dignity of American consumers. The illegal
prescribing and dispensing of opioids and other controlled substances results in
addiction and devastates American families and communities. These problems are
made worse when profiteers put corporate profits above patient care.
The Fraud Division will use cutting-edge data analysis to target exploitative
health care fraud schemes, including in telemedicine programs, Medicare or Medicaid
fraud, controlled substance diversion, home health and hospice schemes, and
companies and individuals that deceptively market unsafe products and services. The
Fraud Division will prosecute defendants who orchestrate schemes that result in the
loss of hundreds of millions of dollars, the distribution of thousands of controlled
substance pills, and complex money laundering, tax, and other associated financial
crimes relating to health care. By supercharging the historically successful Health
Care Fraud Strike Force model with greater resources, data analytics support, and
best-in-class technology, the Fraud Division will prosecute the most significant cases
involving health care in the United States.
C. Internal Revenue
Criminal tax enforcement is an integral part of the Fraud Division’s mandate
to protect the public fisc. The federal government trusts Americans to voluntarily
comply with their tax obligations. Yet, unscrupulous actors abuse this trust. For
example, unethical return preparers include false claims on individuals’ tax returns
and often charge higher fees to do so. Others conceal their income or otherwise falsify
information on their returns. Abusive promoters line their pockets while selling their
unsuspecting clients on illegal tax schemes. In each instance, these wrongdoers lie to
Page 4 of 6
the IRS, cheat the federal government out of lawful revenue, and steal money that
would otherwise fund national priorities.
Additionally, many fraudsters who steal money from government programs
and the American people simultaneously violate our internal revenue laws. The
Fraud Division will therefore continue to foster intra-division and interagency
coordination to enable seamless collaboration, creating an all-tools response to fraud
enforcement.
Moreover, as part of this strengthened posture, the Fraud Division will deploy
the full arsenal of criminal tax tools paired with data analytics, financial forensics,
and nationwide coordination. This ensures that tax-related fraudsters face swift and
certain accountability. The Division will use these capabilities to identify tax
misconduct earlier, pursue tax offenders more efficiently, and deliver meaningful
deterrence in service of the American taxpayer.
D. Global Trade and Commerce
America is the center of the global economy, connecting the world through
trade and foreign commerce. The integrity of our domestic markets and the security
of our borders depend on the fair enforcement of our trade laws. When corporations
or individuals engage in trade fraud and customs evasion, they undermine American
industry, deprive the public fisc of vital external revenue, fund foreign adversaries,
and compromise our national values.
To address these vulnerabilities, the Fraud Division will lead the Department’s
coordinated criminal enforcement strategy, targeting trade and customs violations
and supply chains polluted by forced labor. Through the cross-agency Trade Fraud
Task Force, prosecutors will focus on systemic, high-impact noncompliance that
threatens our economic and national security. This includes prioritizing the
investigation and prosecution of, among others, illicit transshipment schemes,
country-of-origin fraud, the undervaluation of imported goods designed to evade
duties, sanctions evasion, and foreign forced labor schemes.
E. Corporate Misconduct
Businesses frequently engage in fraud and other economic crimes, eager to
benefit financially from the criminal conduct of their employees. The Department has
long prioritized prosecuting corporate misconduct, and the Fraud Division will treat
such wrongdoing no differently, holding accountable organizations that flaunt the law
and rewarding those that voluntarily self-disclose, cooperate, and remediate.
The Fraud Division has a strong pipeline of ongoing corporate matters.
Prosecutors will prioritize anti-fraud corporate enforcement and work closely with
our Corporate Enforcement Section. Corporate enforcement experts will ensure that
appropriate resources are committed to combating fraud by corporations and that
Page 5 of 6
prosecutors fairly and consistently apply the Department’s policies concerning the
prosecution of organizations.
III. THE FRAUD DIVISION DRIVES A UNIFIED APPROACH TO
COMBATING FRAUD
This Administration’s whole-of-government approach to combating fraud is
critical to advancing U.S. interests. The Fraud Division will continue to leverage its
unique position as a leader in this fight to systematically target, prosecute, and
imprison fraudsters who dare steal from Americans and their government. With the
Division’s expansive mission and national presence, we are aggressively and
meticulously repairing the damage inflicted on our social fabric by criminal
fraudsters. The future of America is bright, and I am excited to work with you in the
pursuit of truth, accountability, and justice for the United States.
Page 6 of 6
Assistant Attorney
National Fraud Enforcement Division General
Principal Deputy
Assistant Attorney
General
Deputy Assistant Deputy Assistant Deputy Assistant Deputy Assistant Deputy Assistant
Attorney General Attorney General Attorney General Attorney General Attorney General
National
Health Care Fraud Strategic Analysis
Tax Section Enforcement Appellate Section Executive Office Section
Section
Section
Public Trust and Global Trade & Corporate
National Fraud Information Litigation Support
Financial Integrity Commerce Enforcement Technology Section Section
Enforcement Section
Detection Center
Section Section
Strategic
District Fraud Asset Recovery Victim Services
Communications
Counsel Section Section Section
Section
Criminal
Special Matters
General Counsel Investigation
Section Section
File and source
- File
- doj-memo-aag-mcdonald-fraud-division-enforcement-priorities-2026-08-13.pdf
- Size
- 347,391 bytes
- SHA-256
- 03aaa962adeaaa5e6609378b0f4182b5ced3c2f6e90fdac2b9a025e1294c6192
- Original
- www.justice.gov