Washington, DC - Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein today announced the establishment of a new Task Force on Market Integrity and Consumer Fraud. The Task Force, which is formed pursuant to Presidential Executive Order, will provide guidance for the investigation and prosecution of cases involving fraud on the government, the financial markets, and consumers, including cyber-fraud and other fraud targeting the elderly, service members and veterans, and other members of the public; procurement and grant fraud; securities and commodities fraud, as well as other corporate fraud, with particular attention to fraud affecting the general public; digital currency fraud; money laundering, including the recovery of proceeds; health care fraud; tax fraud; and other financial crimes.
Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein was joined in the announcement by Acting Director Mick Mulvaney of the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection, Chairman Jay Clayton of the Securities and Exchange Commission, and Chairman Joe Simons of the Federal Trade Commission.
“Fraud committed by companies and their employees has a devastating impact on American citizens in the financial markets, the health care sector, and elsewhere,” said Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein. “The President’s order directs the Task Force to invite participation from our law enforcement partners at many departments and agencies. By working together, we can achieve more effective and efficient outcomes. Drawing on our pooled resources, including subject-matter expertise, data repositories, and analysts and investigators, we can identify and stop fraud on a wider scale than any one agency acting alone.”
“As Acting Director of the Bureau, one of my top priorities has been to go after bad actors,” said Acting Director Mick Mulvaney of the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection. “The Bureau takes its mandate to enforce the law seriously, and the Bureau will continue to apply the law to achieve this end of combatting fraud against Americans. The recent settlement with Wells Fargo is a great example of the Bureau coordinating closely with sister regulators to remedy legal violations. Interagency cooperation is incredibly important for these complex issues, as criminals do not stay neatly within state lines or even national borders. This task force is an example of the growing cooperation of the Bureau’s work with other federal and state authorities to combat a multitude of bad actors out there today.”
“At the SEC we work every day to protect Main Street investors,” said SEC Chairman Clayton. “This Task Force will allow us to build on the close partnerships we have with our fellow regulators and law enforcement agencies to deter and combat retail fraud.”
“Stopping fraud against consumers is at the heart of the FTC’s mission,” said FTC Chairman Joe Simons. “To combat these problems, the Commission has developed a multi-faceted strategy: we bring enforcement actions to protect consumers; and we engage in education initiatives to help the general public, the elderly and service members detect and avoid scams. The FTC looks forward to further collaboration with the Department of Justice and other agencies through participation in this Task Force, so we can leverage our skills and resources to protect as many consumers as possible.”
The Task Force will be led by the Deputy Attorney General, who serves as Chair, and the Associate Attorney General, who serves as Vice Chair. In the performance of its functions, the Task Force is directed to invite participation from the Departments of Treasury, Defense, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, Energy, Education, Veterans Affairs, and Homeland Security, as well as the Small Business Administration, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Social Security Administration, the United States Agency for International Development, the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection, the Federal Trade Commission, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the General Services Administration, the National Credit Union Administration, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the Board of Directors of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Federal Housing Finance Agency, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and the Postal Inspection Service.
