Washington, Jan 8 — In a move aimed at fighting what it termed “rampant” fraud, the Trump administration Thursday established a special division for the U.S. Department of Justice, a media report said.
The White House reported that the new division would carry out federal criminal and civil laws that relate to fraud against federal programs, federally funded benefits, businesses, N.B., and private individuals. An assistant attorney general has been assigned to manage the division that advises the attorney general and deputy attorney general regarding high-impact fraud investigations and prosecutions.
Critics and human rights activists, on the other hand, claim that the government has relied on allegations of fraud to pursue immigrants and political opponents. They cite Trump’s pardons for people convicted of fraud and point to an exaggeration of isolated instances, especially within the Somali community of Minnesota.
At the beginning of this week, the government froze more than $10 billion in childcare and family assistance funds allocated to California, Colorado, Illinois, Minnesota, and New York due to concerns over fraud. The states have filed a lawsuit against the federal government.
The latest move is part of the ongoing threats of budget cuts that the administration has been unleashing on the states and institutions for issues that range from welfare fraud to diversity policies and university protests for the Palestinian cause.