Vice President Vance Addresses Fraud Combating Efforts

WASHINGTON—On Tuesday, Vice President J.D. Vance spoke at an Anti-Fraud Task Force roundtable, emphasizing the ongoing collaboration between the federal government and state attorneys general to tackle fraud.

During the meeting held at the Eisenhower Executive Building, Vance welcomed representatives from 15 Attorney General’s offices nationwide.

“In our fight against fraud, it’s clear that while the federal government has substantial resources, these can be further enhanced by the insights and expertise of state attorneys general, like those present today,” he noted.

He acknowledged their significant legal and prosecutorial resources, adding, “We’re thankful for their involvement. Together, we’re committed to combating fraud at both the state and federal levels.”

The Vice President also highlighted that this initiative crosses party lines.

“It’s particularly encouraging that this is a bipartisan effort. Though we have representatives from states like Connecticut and Oregon, we must emphasize that combating fraud should unite us, rather than divide us,” he expressed.

“Fraud impacts everyone. It’s vital to root it out for the sake of saving taxpayer money and protecting programs that rely on adequate funding—money that shouldn’t be lost to fraudsters,” he stated.

Vance shared some achievements of the task force since it began in mid-March, pointing out significant instances of fraud detection.

“We’ve managed to return over $22 billion from fraudulent small business loans to the Treasury Department. Additionally, we postponed over $1.3 billion in fraudulent Medicaid reimbursements, especially from California. We’ve also temporarily halted new registrations for hospice and home health providers due to high instances of fraud. This is essential for ensuring that genuine service providers are supported. After the surge in fraud following the onset of COVID-19, we’ve retrieved taxpayer funds from the $135 billion that was misappropriated. We identified $6.3 billion in suspected fraudulent government contracts, mainly awarded during the last administration, and halted that. We even prevented a $60 million scam aimed at students seeking education funds, which ended up in the hands of fraudsters instead.”

Colin MacDonald, Assistant Attorney General for the National Fraud Enforcement Division (NFED), also noted several achievements since the NFED’s launch in early April, assuring the state attorneys general of the federal government’s willingness to collaborate.