Department of Justice, Other Agencies Focus on Fighting Fraud

As Bernard Madoff serves his time for the Madoff, SEC Reach Partial Settlement and one colleague after another is brought up on charges or investigated in connection with the scandal, it's not surprising that combating fraud has become a major focus of the U.S. Department of Justice and other federal agencies that address consumer protection.

To that end, the Justice Department has appointed Denis McInerney as its new fraud chief. The former partner at Davis Polk & Wardwell will replace Steven Tyrrell, who announced his retirement this summer, according to Compliance Week. He will manage 60 attorneys and 25 support staff who deal with cases involving anything from health care fraud to the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

Also last week, the DoJ announced the creation of a new task force to fight financial fraud. Compliance Week writer Melissa Klein Aguilar explains that the Financial Fraud Task Force will be made up of representatives from the DoJ and several other agencies. The group "will build on existing efforts to combat mortgage, securities and corporate fraud."