NEW: DOJ Establishes ‘West Coast Strike Force’ To Goal Fraud
The U.S. Department of Justice has launched a new regional enforcement initiative focused on health care fraud in three West Coast jurisdictions, the department’s new fraud division announced in a press release.
Assistant Attorney General Colin McDonald of the National Fraud Enforcement Division delivered remarks in San Francisco announcing the formation of the West Coast Health Care Fraud Strike Force, covering Arizona, Nevada, and the Northern District of California.
The strike force represents an expansion of federal efforts to address fraud involving taxpayer-funded health care programs. McDonald described the initiative as a response to data indicating a substantial volume of health care fraud in the covered districts, particularly involving Medicaid, wound care, and digital health technology schemes that affect programs serving low-income individuals, the elderly, and people with disabilities.
The new unit will consist of at least ten prosecutors drawn from the Fraud Division’s Health Care Fraud Section, who will work directly with the three U.S. Attorneys’ Offices to increase local capacity for investigations and prosecutions.
The press release noted that on April 7, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche issued a memorandum directing the creation of the National Fraud Enforcement Division to strengthen litigation efforts against fraud involving federal funds of any scale. One week prior to the strike force announcement, the Fraud Division introduced a $300 million grant program to support state and local prosecutors in similar efforts.
The West Coast initiative also aligns with the broader President’s Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, a government-wide program chaired by Vice President Vance aimed at reducing fraud, waste, and abuse in federal benefit programs.
Federal health care fraud enforcement has relied on a strike force model for nearly two decades. Nationwide, nine such units have resulted in charges against more than 6,200 defendants who collectively billed federal health care programs and private insurers more than $45 billion.
The West Coast Strike Force extends this framework to the specified districts, where prior collaborations between Washington, D.C.-based prosecutors and local offices — through the National Rapid Response Strike Force established in 2020 — have already produced notable outcomes, McDonald noted.
McDonald cited specific examples from Arizona to illustrate the scope of activity. In one case resolved the previous year, owners of a wound graft company received sentences of 15.5 years and 14 years following a $1.2 billion scheme; authorities seized $126 million in assets, including cash, vehicles, and gold bars. Another matter involved charges in a $650 million Medicaid fraud scheme that allegedly targeted individuals receiving substance abuse treatment.
These prosecutions, along with others in the Northern District of California involving digital health technology, informed the decision to establish a permanent regional presence rather than rely solely on remote support from Washington.
As the strike force begins operations, officials anticipate it will contribute to both immediate case resolutions and longer-term deterrence across the region.