On April 7, 2026, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche released a memorandum on the creation of the National Fraud Enforcement Division (“the NFED”) at the Department of Justice. The release of the memorandum follows the January 2026 White House announcement of the NFED, as well as the subsequent issuance of Executive Order 14395 (“E.O. 14395”) announcing the establishment of a Task Force to Eliminate Fraud on March 16, 2026.
In the memorandum, the Acting Attorney General emphasized DOJ’s “storied history of combatting fraud” while acknowledging its lack of coordination in carrying out those efforts. The advent of the NFED, according to the memo, is aimed at “consolidating and realigning relevant resources” to create a “robust litigating division capable of reaching any fraud.”
The memorandum is noteworthy in several respects. First, it endows the newly appointed Assistant Attorney General for the NFED with operational control of the Criminal Division’s Tax Section, Health Care Fraud Unit, and the Market Government, and Consumer Fraud Unit, effective immediately. The memorandum also provides that certain units may be “realigned” into the NFED based on an assessment by DOJ’s Office of Legal Policy. That assessment, according to the memorandum, should be subject to a reasonable presumption that any criminal unit or “section with a mission similar to that of the [NFED]” is to be realigned within the NFED.
Second, the memorandum allocates considerable resources to the NFED’s mission. The Criminal Division’s Appellate and Money Laundering, Narcotics and Forfeiture Sections are responsible for advising and litigating on behalf of the NFED. Further, each U.S. Attorney’s Office is to designate an experienced prosecutor to oversee the administration of the NFED’s mission in his or her district. Finally, the memorandum orders the NFED to collaborate with the Task Force created by E.O. 14395 to establish and support a National Fraud Detection Center dedicated to identifying fraud on federal programs.
The considerable oversight and resources afforded to the NFED at its inception are reflective of the administration’s commitment to combating civil fraud. When coupled with E.O. 14395’s stated aim of promoting the use of the False Claims Act’s qui tam provision, 31 U.S.C. § 3730, individuals and entities can expect to see an uptick in the use of civil investigative demands to investigate potential fraud on federal programs. Given that DOJ’s press release on the NFED memorandum highlighted civil and criminal actions concerning Medicaid and Affordable Care Act-related fraud, healthcare entities should be particularly mindful of the potential for enhanced scrutiny from the NFED.