On 13 August 2026, Assistant Attorney General (AAG) Colin McDonald issued a memorandum (the Memo) outlining the enforcement priorities and organizational structure of the US Department of Justice’s (DOJ) National Fraud Enforcement Division (the Fraud Division). The Fraud Division is not new—DOJ leadership first announced its creation in April 2026—but the Memo is the first detailed roadmap of how it intends to operate. Five days later, the DOJ released a final rule officially transferring enforcement jurisdiction to the head of the Fraud Division (the Rule).
The Memo provides the clearest indication to date of how the Fraud Division intends to exercise its broad mandate to investigate and prosecute fraud “no matter its size or complexity.” The Memo identifies five principal enforcement priorities: (1) public trust and financial integrity; (2) healthcare; (3) internal revenue; (4)…
Insurance fraud involves making false or exaggerated claims to an insurance provider.
- Hard Fraud: Someone deliberately causes a loss (e.g., setting fire to a warehouse or staging a car accident) specifically to collect a payout.
- Soft Fraud: More common and often viewed as “victimless” by the perpetrator. It involves exaggerating a legitimate claim, such as overstating the value of stolen items in a home burglary to cover the deductible.