DOJ Makes Breathtaking Announcement on Fraud That Will Make You Spit-Take Your Coffee

You might want to sit down. Because when you learn the massive amounts of fraud that is occurring in this country, you'll be hotter than cayenne pepper.

The National Fraud Enforcement Center, founded in April of this year, is working hard to bust fraudsters, and it is driving home just how massive the problem really has become.

🚨 @AAGMcDonald announces the FIRST-EVER NATIONWIDE TAX FRAUD SURGE. The surge resulted in prosecutorial actions against 76 defendants in 45 days whose alleged crimes totaled an intended loss of over $490 MILLION. ⤵️ https://t.co/dbV6QmeOTc

— National Fraud Enforcement Division (@DOJFraudDiv) October 14, 2026

Assistant Attorney General Colin McDonald, who leads the Justice Department's National Fraud Enforcement Division, made a startling statement during the announcement.

McDonald said criminals steal "hundreds of billions of dollars every year from the taxpayer." He added that "more taxpayer dollars go to fraudsters every year than to most federal departments and agencies, including the combined budgets of the departments of energy, justice, and interior."

Think about that for a moment. The Department of Energy receives roughly $49 billion to $50 billion in annual discretionary funding. The Department of Justice receives approximately $36 billion to $37 billion. And the Department of the Interior's core appropriations run approximately $15 billion to $17 billion. Combined, that's around $102 billion to $104 billion annually.

Now compare that with the Government Accountability Office's estimates of federal fraud. The GAO has estimated that fraud across federal programs costs taxpayers between $233 billion and $521 billion annually, based on data from fiscal years 2018 through 2022.

Even the lower end of that range is more than twice the combined annual discretionary budgets of Energy, Justice, and Interior. The upper end is roughly five times as much. 

And that's before considering the GAO's separate estimate of annual tax-related losses, which has been reported in the range of $116 billion to $304 billion.

Consider what $304 billion represents. That's enough money to cover the combined annual budgets of the Departments of Energy, Justice, Interior, Agriculture, Commerce, Education, and Labor, along with NASA, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Small Business Administration.

Ten federal departments and agencies. Approximately $278 billion combined. And there would still be $26 billion left over. 

The NFED is thus launching its first-ever nationwide tax fraud surge, according to the Department of Justice. The Justice Department brought together 35 U.S. attorneys' offices and IRS criminal investigators to conduct the "surge" over approximately six weeks.

The operation has produced 23 new charging actions involving 31 defendants and more than $350 million in alleged intended tax losses. Another 45 defendants were involved in trials, guilty pleas, and sentencings connected to nearly $140 million in estimated intended losses. Attorney General Todd Blanche made clear that the administration considers this the beginning of a much larger effort.

"Every dollar stolen through tax fraud is a dollar taken from the American people," Blanche said. "What we uncovered during this concentrated surge is only the tip of the iceberg."

And the cases themselves are eye-opening. In Texas, four defendants were charged in connection with an alleged fraudulent trust scheme that prosecutors say concealed more than $1.5 billion in income, producing over $200 million in estimated tax losses.

In Georgia, three Mexican citizens were indicted in an alleged $74 million fraudulent refund scheme involving more than 16,000 U.S. Treasury checks.

Prosecutors allege the defendants used identification documents belonging to other individuals to obtain taxpayer identification numbers and submit fraudulent returns.

But the sheer scale of the schemes being investigated raises a much larger question about how much money is escaping federal oversight.

We'll set aside, for the sake of argument, whether many of these government agencies should even exist. Because when you grow the government to such a colossal size, fraud is going to happen inevitably.

For a country running enormous deficits, borrowing heavily, and fighting endlessly over government spending, these figures ought to be setting off alarm bells across Washington about our unsustainable levels of spending.

But the Trump administration, for all of the caterwauling and ballyhooing, is the first presidential administration to do something serious to stop the massive amounts of fraud taking place in this country.

If you combine the way it has shut down our open borders, cut back on H1B and other visa abuse, slashed the scope of our bloated government bureaucracy, kept inflation under control, and gone after fraudsters, that is more than enough to get a seal of approval from taxpayers.

Editor’s Note: Every single day, here at RedState, we stand up and FIGHT, FIGHT, FIGHT against the radical Left and deliver the conservative reporting our readers deserve.

Help us continue to tell the truth about the Trump administration and its successes. Join RedState VIP and use promo code FIGHT to receive 60% off your membership.

Editor’s Note: Thanks to President Trump’s leadership and bold policies, America’s economy is back on track.

Help us continue to report on the president’s successes and combat the Democrats' lies about America's economic revival. Join RedState VIP and use promo code FIGHT to receive 60% off your membership.