If there was a central pitch delivered by a united front of federal agency principals at a forum in New York last week, it was this: we’re not about to be complacent regarding fraud-based crime committed in the United States.
In fact, speakers from America’s most prominent regulatory and enforcement arms stated at a fraud risk-management summit that their organizations are now focused like never before on identifying and combating progressively sophisticated types of fraud.
An underlying summit theme stressed what national law enforcers admittedly do not know about evolving fraud initiatives. A ranking employee with the U.S. Department of Justice stated that wrongdoers “are leveraging and utilizing everything from the dark web to myriad schemes involving cryptocurrency and virtual currency.” Other speakers referenced ruses targeting seniors, securities scams, health care fraud, Ponzi schemes, market manipulations, cybercrime and more. Agency spokespersons concede that it is a tough and constant challenge to respond effectively to increasingly complex criminal behaviors, but one that the government is up for.
Candidly, the country’s preeminent crime-focused agencies are well equipped for the task. Agencies such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the aforementioned DOJ command serious resources and clout.
And they sound amply ready – even eager – to use their powers to spotlight and punish fraud. Moreover, they are embracing collaborative efforts, which makes already potent government probes even more formidable. A summit presenter from the DOJ notes, for example, that a key priority for her agency “is working with our regulator and agency partners to make sure we being as efficient as we can.”
Unquestionably, fraud is a top-shelf target for government task forces working in concert to secure mass arrests and criminal convictions. We will have more to say about that in an upcoming blog post.
