On September 23, 2026, Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, announced the creation of a new Fraud and Asset Recovery Division. The new Division will be […]
On September 17, 2026, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit held that the government may manually search a traveler’s cellphone at the border without a warrant or any individualized suspicion. In United States v. Alisigwe, the court concluded that manual cellphone searches qualify as routine border searches, resolving a split among district courts within the Second Circuit.
The decision could have significant implications beyond traditional customs and immigration enforcement. Cellphones can contain communications, financial records, and other evidence relevant to government investigations, and the court reaffirmed that border searches may be conducted for investigative purposes unrelated to border enforcement. Individuals involved in government investigations—and companies whose employees travel internationally—should consider what privileged or sensitive information is accessible on devices carried across the border.
Important questions remain. Alisigwe addressed only a manual search and did not decide whether suspicion is required for more intrusive forensic searches or whether the government may compel a traveler to provide a passcode or biometric authentication. Those issues remain unsettled and are likely to be the subject of further litigation. Click here to read the full blog post.
In a move with substantial implications for federal enforcement generally and the False Claims Act (“FCA”) in particular, the U.S. Department of Justice (“the Department”) on September 18, 2026 announced […]
On August 10, 2026, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that the Criminal Division’s longstanding Fraud Section has been renamed the White Collar and Corporate Enforcement Section. The change follows the creation of the National Fraud Enforcement Division, which absorbed more than half of the legacy Fraud Section’s personnel and its longstanding mandate to combat fraud against government programs.
The renaming marks a notable development for a Section that has played a central role in DOJ’s corporate and financial crime enforcement for decades. The Section’s roots date to the World War II-era “War Frauds Unit,” and its prosecutors have since handled significant matters involving securities and commodities fraud, health care fraud, foreign bribery, market manipulation, and other complex economic crimes.
The key question is whether the new name reflects a rebranding or signals broader changes in DOJ’s white collar enforcement strategy. Click here to read the full post.
On August 5, 2026, DOJ announced a $5.15 million settlement with a Taiwanese light-emitting diode (“LED”) manufacturer and its Texas-based subsidiary to resolve allegations under the False Claims Act (“FCA”), […]
On July 30, 2026, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) revised its Corporate Whistleblower Awards Pilot Program, expanding the pool of individuals who may qualify for an award. Most notably, DOJ eliminated the prior rule that automatically disqualified whistleblowers who could have been eligible for an award under another U.S. government whistleblower program, such as those administered by the SEC or CFTC. Instead, a whistleblower is now disqualified only if he or she actually receives an award from another program for reporting the same or substantially the same misconduct, while DOJ retains discretion to reduce or deny duplicative awards.
The revised guidance also includes several administrative updates, including confirmation that the program is now administered by the Criminal Division’s Money Laundering, Narcotics, and Forfeiture Section (formerly the Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section) and that submissions will be made through a dedicated online intake portal. The covered subject-matter areas remain unchanged from the May 2025 expansion and continue to include, among other areas, financial institution crimes, bribery, healthcare fraud, trade and customs fraud, procurement fraud, immigration offenses, and sanctions-related misconduct.
For companies, the revisions further strengthen incentives for whistleblowers to report directly to DOJ, including in matters that may also be eligible for other agency whistleblower programs. At the same time, DOJ’s Corporate Enforcement and Voluntary Self-Disclosure Policy continues to provide a pathway to a declination for companies that promptly self-disclose, cooperate, and remediate misconduct, reinforcing the importance of effective internal reporting mechanisms and careful consideration of self-disclosure decisions in the face of potential whistleblower reports. Click here to read the full post.
On June 9, 2026, DOJ announced a settlement with Broadway Electric Inc. (“Broadway”); its subsidiary, Cornerstone Contracting Inc. (“Cornerstone”); and two of their individual executives, for $21.3 million to resolve False Claims Act allegations. The settlement targeted alleged fraud against the Small Business Administration’s (“SBA”) set-aside contract program for service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses (“SDVOSBs”). The settlement suggests that the government is surging resources to both anti-fraud issues generally, and to alleged SBA fraud in particular.
The Administration has taken another significant step in its effort to increase pressure on state Medicaid Fraud Control Units (“MFCUs”). On July 2, 2026, the United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of New York announced the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (“HHS-OIG”) denied recertification of New York’s MFCU and suspended its federal funding effective July 1. The decision follows the Administration’s announcements earlier this year that it would closely scrutinize state MFCU performance, including through funding consequences for states perceived as failing to aggressively investigate and prosecute Medicaid fraud.