The Trade Fraud Task Force, launched by the Justice Department and Department of Homeland Security in August 2025, has recovered or charged more than $1 billion in civil and criminal recoveries, penalties, forfeitures, and charged losses in less than a year, the DOJ said Tuesday.
The milestone reflects the federal government’s increased focus on using criminal prosecutions and civil enforcement under the False Claims Act to combat customs and trade fraud, the DOJ said in a statement.
“For too long, fraud actors have viewed customs violations as a mere surcharge or cost of doing business,” said Assistant Attorney General Colin McDonald of the Justice Department’s National Fraud Enforcement Division, in a press release. …