On 13 August 2026, the Department of Justice’s newly created National Fraud Enforcement Division published a memorandum outlining its core enforcement priorities for the months ahead.
Colin M. McDonald, Assistant Attorney General of the Fraud Division, signed the memorandum, signalling an ambitious expansion of federal fraud enforcement resources across the United States.
The document identifies five substantive enforcement priorities: Public Trust and Financial Integrity, Healthcare Fraud, Criminal Tax Enforcement, Global Trade and Commerce, and Corporate Misconduct.
Together, these priorities reflect the Department’s commitment to data-driven investigations, nationwide coordination, and greater corporate accountability across multiple sectors.
The Fraud Division has made clear it views fraud schemes as direct threats to the health, safety, security, and prosperity of Americans, providing the basis for its broad mandate.
Since its launch earlier in 2026, the Fraud Division has already established a nationwide enforcement footprint and prosecuted matters involving billions of dollars in alleged fraud.
The Department also announced an ongoing reorganisation that will shift considerable resources into the Fraud Division and substantially increase staffing levels across its operations.
Prosecutors will be supported by asset recovery attorneys, appellate counsel, corporate enforcement specialists, investigators, a dedicated privilege review team, and experts in data science and analytics.
Criminal tax enforcement will be fully integrated into the broader fraud enforcement mission, targeting false tax return preparation, concealment of income, falsification of tax information, and promotion of allegedly unlawful tax schemes.
The Fraud Division intends to use criminal tax statutes alongside other fraud-related offences, deploying data analytics and financial forensics to identify tax misconduct earlier and pursue violations more efficiently.
For multinational corporations, the memorandum’s identification of trade-related fraud as a key enforcement focus will be among the most significant developments to monitor closely.
The Division has indicated that companies which voluntarily self-disclose, cooperate with investigators, and remediate misconduct will continue to receive credit for those steps under existing Department policies.