One Fraud Division, Many Enforcement Questions: What DOJ's National Fraud Enforcement Division Means for Companies – Mintz

The US Department of Justice (DOJ or Department) published a final rule on August 18, 2026 (Final Rule) formalizing the National Fraud Enforcement Division (Fraud Division) established in April 2026. Companies in the health care, government contracting, trade, and tax sectors should take note and scrutinize their compliance programs accordingly. The Fraud Division has grown rapidly, already wielding data-driven investigative tools and interagency partnerships, and has signaled that it will reward companies that self-disclose and cooperate while aggressively pursuing those that do not.
Under the Final Rule, the Fraud Division has jurisdiction over the following broad range of fraud-related matters. Companies should understand the scope of the Fraud Division’s reach:
DOJ’s Criminal Division will retain authority over criminal fraud cases except tax fraud and health plan fraud, which are exclusively assigned to the Fraud Division. The Criminal Division’s previously exclusive authority over controlled substances cases has also been made non-exclusive, permitting the Fraud Division to bring such charges where authorized. Accordingly, the Fraud Division and the Criminal Division will have concurrent jurisdiction over most general criminal fraud and controlled-substances matters.
Critically, it may also prosecute any federal criminal provision charged alongside a fraud case in its core areas and, notably, may prosecute any criminal offenses uncovered during its investigations, even if those offenses fall outside its enumerated subject-matter categories. In practice, this means a fraud investigation that begins as a health care billing inquiry for example, could expand to encompass tax, money laundering, or other charges. The Division will coordinate enforcement efforts with federal, tribal, state, territorial, and local law enforcement partners. 
The Attorney General or Deputy Attorney General may also assign the Fraud Division any case or category of cases — notwithstanding any other DOJ organizational provision — and may acquire cases by agreement with other DOJ components. In connection with its proceedings, the Fraud Division also has authority to seek injunctions against fraud, obtain restitution, seize or forfeit property, and recover forfeitures, damages, or penalties.
On August 13, 2026, Assistant Attorney General Colin M. McDonald issued the Fraud Division’s Enforcement Priorities Memorandum (McDonald Memo) setting forth the Fraud Division’s enforcement priorities across five areas: (1) public trust and financial integrity, (2) health care, (3) internal revenue, (4) global trade and commerce, and (5) corporate misconduct. The memorandum frames the urgency of the Fraud Division’s work by citing a Government Accountability Office estimate that the federal government loses between $233 billion and $521 billion annually to fraud.
Perhaps the most consequential for corporate clients, the McDonald Memo commits the Fraud Division to “holding accountable organizations that flaunt [sic] the law and rewarding those that voluntarily self-disclose, cooperate, and remediate.” As we discussed in March, DOJ announced its first-ever Department-wide Corporate Enforcement and Voluntary Self-Disclosure Policy (CEP), which operates as follows:
Until recently, DOJ’s fraud enforcement was spread across multiple components, principally the Criminal Division, the Tax Division, and individual US Attorney’s Offices. The Fraud Division consolidates these functions into a single litigating division with a centralized mandate, dedicated leadership, and substantial resources. The McDonald Memo states that the Fraud Division will reach approximately five hundred attorneys and staff by August 24, 2026, and has “an aggressive plan” to continue growing over the next two years.
For companies, this reorganization matters for three reasons:
Companies should take concrete steps now to address the risks highlighted by the creation of the Fraud Division and the priorities identified in the McDonald Memo:
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