The United States Department of Justice has unveiled an ambitious expansion plan for its National Fraud Enforcement Division, alongside five clearly defined enforcement priorities.
Colin M. McDonald, Assistant Attorney General for the Division, issued a memorandum on August 13 outlining the priorities and presenting an updated organisational chart.
The Division expects to reach approximately 500 attorneys and staff by August 24, 2026, with plans to continue growing rapidly over the following two years.
DOJ is actively reallocating personnel across departments to support the near-term staffing target as the Division builds out a nationwide footprint.
McDonald’s memorandum describes a specialised, technology-enabled structure supported by data scientists, asset-recovery attorneys, appellate counsel, and advanced investigative technology personnel.
The Division will principally direct resources toward fraud threatening the “health, safety, security and prosperity of Americans,” with particular attention to conduct affecting children, the elderly, and people who are sick or disabled.
Five priority areas have been formally identified: public trust and financial integrity, health care, internal revenue, global trade and commerce, and corporate misconduct.
Under the public trust and financial integrity pillar, the Division identifies government-procurement fraud as a key concern, including bid rigging, bribery, self-dealing, defective pricing, and billing schemes.
Health care enforcement will intensify across telemedicine, Medicare and Medicaid, home health and hospice services, controlled-substance diversion, and the deceptive marketing of unsafe products and services.
Criminal tax enforcement has been named as a stated focus area, with the internal revenue priority signalling a more assertive approach to tax-related fraud at a national level.
The global trade and commerce priority covers customs and trade fraud, sanctions evasion, and related international schemes that undermine the integrity of cross-border commerce.
On corporate misconduct, the Division intends to hold organisations accountable for fraud and economic crimes while rewarding companies that voluntarily self-disclose, cooperate, and remediate violations.
A dedicated Corporate Enforcement Section will be established to ensure consistent application of DOJ policies concerning organisational prosecutions across the country.
The announcement reinforces a more unified, nationally coordinated fraud enforcement model that draws heavily on data analytics, cross-agency coordination, and advanced technology to identify and pursue complex schemes.
The Division’s growth is also expected to intersect with congressional oversight and broader legislative efforts addressing fraud, waste, and abuse across federal programmes.