Overview
On August 13, 2026, Colin M. McDonald, Assistant Attorney General of the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) National Fraud Enforcement Division (the Fraud Division or the Division), issued a memorandum (the Memorandum) to all Fraud Division personnel setting out the Division’s enforcement priorities. According to the Memorandum, the Department intends to substantially grow the Fraud Division over the next two years, underscoring the overall goal to “prosecute fraud in the United States, no matter its size or complexity.” This chimes with a broader focus on fraud from authorities in many jurisdictions (including for example, the new UK failure to prevent fraud offence.
Five Priority Areas
The Memorandum identifies five enforcement priorities: public trust and financial integrity; health care; internal revenue; global trade and commerce; and corporate misconduct.
Cross-Border Enforcement Focus
A recurring theme of the Memorandum is the Division’s intent to pursue fraud across jurisdictional boundaries. The DOJ does not intend to limit its coverage to just U.S. persons. The following areas carry significant implications for non-U.S. companies and individuals with U.S. exposure:
- Cross-Border Fraud Schemes
Before discussing priorities in detail, the Memorandum acknowledges that fraud schemes often span international borders—signaling that the Fraud Division intends to pursue schemes beyond U.S. borders.
- Global Trade and Commerce
The Memorandum states that the integrity and security of U.S. domestic markets and borders depends on the fair enforcement of trade laws. The Fraud Division, through the cross-agency Trade Fraud Task Force, intends to focus on systemic, high-impact noncompliance, such as illicit transshipment schemes, country-of-origin fraud, duty and sanctions evasion, and foreign forced labor schemes. This impacts non-U.S. manufacturers, importers, and logistics providers with U.S. supply chain exposure.
- Government Benefit Fraud
According to the Memorandum, lax oversight has led to bad actors, and specifically, “foreign nationals,” exploiting government benefit and grant programs for personal enrichment. This specific callout suggests that the Fraud Division has a heightened level of scrutiny around non-U.S. persons utilizing government benefit and grant programs.
- Corporate Misconduct
The Memorandum indicates that it will hold all organizations accountable that flaunt the law, and will reward those that voluntarily self-disclose, cooperate, and remediate. Given the cadence of the entire Memorandum, foreign corporations with U.S. operations or exposure should consider this broad statement applicable to them, and have a fulsome compliance program in place.
Key Takeaways
The Memorandum signals that the DOJ intends to make federal fraud enforcement a priority. International businesses with U.S. trade, supply chain, government contracting, or health care exposure should treat the Division’s stated priorities—particularly around trade fraud, sanctions evasion, forced labor, and corporate misconduct—as immediate compliance review triggers. The explicit naming of foreign nationals and cross-border schemes signals that the DOJ intends to prosecute aggressively beyond U.S. borders.