Acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche is launching the National Fraud Enforcement Division for taxpayer-funded programs, according to an April 7 memo.
The White House announced plans for the division in January as Medicaid fraud concerns in Minnesota intensified. In March, President Donald Trump issued an executive order establishing a fraud task force led by Vice President J.D. Vance.
“The American people deserve a government that stewards their money wisely and protects it from wrongdoers,” the recent memo said. “They rightly expect that taxpayer-funded programs will be administered fairly and protected from theft. Fraudsters who target taxpayer dollars do not just steal from taxpayers, they also prevent critical benefits from reaching those in need and sow seeds of distrust in government institutions and civil society.”
The memo said more than $1 trillion is at stake each year.
Here are six things to know about the division:
1. Effective immediately, the division’s assistant attorney general will serve as a centralized figure, overseeing multiple fraud units, such as the Health Care Fraud Unit.
2. The division will also collaborate with the task force, the Justice Management Division and other parties to set up a National Fraud Detection Center for “generating leads for investigators and prosecutors.”
3. The FBI will work with the Justice Management Division to increase personnel dedicated to investigating fraud affecting taxpayer-funded programs.
4. Personnel will move into the division within 90 days of the deputy attorney general’s realignment assessment of Justice Department resources.
5. Within 21 days of the memo, every U.S. Attorney’s Office will appoint a prosecutor to take accountability for the National Fraud Enforcement Division.
6. Actions taken against possible healthcare fraud have amped up in recent weeks. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on April 7 launched investigations into dozens of Medicaid providers, and Congress and the White House have increased scrutiny of particular states.
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