Trump’s healthcare fraud enforcement expands to Bay Area

“Under the leadership of President Trump, the entire apparatus of the federal government is laser focused on fraud,” McDonald said. “If you steal from the American taxpayer, the Department of Justice and our law enforcement partners will do everything possible to award you free housing in a federal prison, and we will not stop there.”

The task force includes prosecutors from the U.S. Districts of Northern California, Nevada and Arizona as a part of the DOJ’s National Fraud Enforcement Division that was launched earlier this month under Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche.

“There’s a range of conduct that goes into what fraud looks like,” McDonald said. “But at its essence, it’s someone lying to their patients and to the government as to the work that they are engaged in.”

In the Bay Area, fraud in the healthcare technology and biotech sectors has been a prominent issue, according to U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of California Craig Missakian, who was appointed to the position last year by Trump.

“This office has a long history of prosecuting complex, technology-centered healthcare fraud schemes that target investors, cheat federal healthcare programs and ultimately harm patients,” Missakian said.