FIGHTING CRIMINAL FRAUD NATIONWIDE: Today, the Trump Administration is announcing the upcoming creation of the Department of Justice's new division for national fraud enforcement.
- To combat the rampant and pervasive problem of fraud in the United States, the DOJ's new division for national fraud enforcement will enforce the Federal criminal and civil laws against fraud targeting Federal government programs, Federally funded benefits, businesses, nonprofits, and private citizens nationwide.
-
The
Assistant
Attorney
General
for
this
new
division
will
be
responsible
for
leading
the
Department's
efforts
to
investigate,
prosecute,
and
remedy
fraud
affecting
the
Federal
government,
Federally
funded
programs,
and
private
citizens.
This
role
will
oversee
multi-district
and
multi-agency
fraud
investigations;
provide
advice,
assistance,
and
direction
to
the
United
States
Attorneys'
Offices
on
fraud-related
issues;
and
work
closely
with
Federal
agencies
and
Department
components
to
identify,
disrupt,
and
dismantle
organized
and
sophisticated
fraud
schemes
across
jurisdictions.
- The new Assistant Attorney General will also help develop and set national enforcement priorities, and propose legislative and regulatory reforms as necessary to close systematic vulnerabilities and prevent future abuses.
- The Assistant Attorney General will also advise the Attorney General and Deputy Attorney General on issues involving significant, high-impact fraud investigations and prosecutions and related policy matters.
HERE ARE THE ACTIONS THE ADMINISTRATION HAS ALREADY TAKEN TO END MINNESOTA'S FRAUD EPIDEMIC:
-
The
Department
of
Justice
is
currently
engaged
in
multiple
active,
ongoing,
and
extensive
investigations
into
the
fraudulent
activity
that
has
occurred
in
various
Minnesota
programs,
including
the
State's
Feeding
Our
Future,
Housing
Stabilization
Services,
Early
Intensive
Developmental
and
Behavioral
Intervention
programs.
Department
lawyers
are
also
leading
the
prosecution
of
the
Evergreen
Recovery
Medicaid
fraud
defendants.
- The DOJ has charged 98 defendants in Minnesota fraud-related cases - 85 of whom are of Somali descent. 64 of the defendants have already been convicted.
- The DOJ has already issued over 1,750 subpoenas, executed over 130 search warrants, and conducted over 1,000 witness interviews as part of its ongoing investigation.
- Many of the facilities and schemes visited in Nick Shirley's viral video are currently under active investigation by the DOJ; in fact, one of the buildings prominently featured in the video has already had 13 defendants charged for fraud.
- The DOJ is surging prosecution resources to Minnesota, doubling the number of attorneys handling these matters.
- The Federal Bureau of Investigation is conducting investigations into dozens of the State's health care and home care providers accused of fraud, deploying forensic accountants and data analytics teams, and investigating potential links to elected officials and terrorist financing.
-
The
Department
of
Homeland
Security
has
sent
roughly
2,000
agents
to
Minnesota
and
is
conducting
targeted,
door-to-door
investigations
at
locations
suspected
of
fraud.
- DHS has arrested over 1,000 criminal illegal aliens in just the past few weeks as immigration enforcement operations continue. Additionally, as part of Operation Twin Shield earlier this year, DHS identified over 1,300 fraud findings based on site visits in Minneapolis and Saint Paul, and is currently in the process of determining which cases require additional vetting, including for refugee status and potential denaturalization.
-
The
Department
of
Health
and
Human
Services
has
frozen
childcare
payments
and
started
requiring
a
justification,
receipt,
or
photo
evidence
for
all
childcare-related
payments
nationwide.
HHS
is
also
enforcing
a
long-ignored
Federal
law
to
demand
immigration
sponsors
repay
Medicaid
benefits
used
by
sponsored
immigrants.
And
HHS
is
investigating
Minnesota's
Head
Start
programs
over
allegations
of
fraud
by
illegal
aliens.
- The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services notified Minnesota Governor Tim Walz they are pressing pause on Medicaid payments to the 14 programs the State previously flagged for fraud, waste, and abuse until auditors can verify which claims are legitimate. This follows CMS' determination that the Minnesota Medicaid agency is operating its program in substantial noncompliance with Federal requirements.
- HHS cut off an additional $10 billion in five Democrat-run states, including Minnesota.
- The Small Business Administration has halted all annual grant payments to Minnesota. The agency also suspended 6,900 borrowers in the State due to approximately $400 million in suspected fraudulent activity - banning the individuals from all further loan programs, including disaster loans.
- The Department of Housing and Urban Development has dispatched a team to Minnesota to investigate possible housing-assistance fraud.
- The Department of Labor is currently conducting a targeted review of Minnesota's Unemployment Insurance program.
- The Department of Agriculture has demanded Minnesota conduct recertification for its SNAP recipients to ensure the program complies with eligibility requirements - a commonsense move inexplicably challenged in court by state officials.