00:00In the last 98 days, the Department of Justice has announced over 900 major fraud enforcement actions across the country,
00:08including cases targeting billions of taxpayer dollars supporting Medicaid, Medicare, SNAP benefits, unemployment benefits, education benefits, and more.
00:18Today, alongside the Department of Homeland Security and other federal partners, we are announcing an extraordinary enforcement milestone in a
00:29new frontier of fraud enforcement, that is trade and customs fraud.
00:35In less than one year since its launch, the Trade Fraud Task Force, which is now a permanent force within
00:43our fraud division, has officially surpassed $1 billion in criminal and civil recoveries, penalties, forfeitures, and charge losses.
00:53For too long, bad actors seeking to exploit the American economy have decided that ignoring and violating U.S. customs
01:03laws is a business risk worth taking.
01:07Those days are over.
01:09Trade fraud schemes impose severe financial consequences to the United States, depriving the country of billions of dollars every year.
01:18These fraud schemes threaten our national and economic security, steal from taxpayers, undermine American businesses, fund foreign adversaries, introduce hazardous
01:29goods into our markets, and exploit modern-day slavery.
01:34The Fraud Division and the Trade Fraud Task Force are laser-focused on these schemes and will continue to bring
01:41the weight of the Department to bring bad actors to justice.
