The Department of Justice Deploys Health Care Fraud Unit Strike Force to the Country’s Premier Healthcare Fraud Enforcement United States Attorney’s Office

The Department of Justice’s (DOJ) white-collar enforcement priorities continue to key in on healthcare fraud. On September 23, 2025, the DOJ Criminal Division announced its expansion of federal law enforcement resources to the Health Care Fraud Unit’s New England Strike Force (the Strike Force) to the District of Massachusetts.

The United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts has a reputation in healthcare enforcement, bringing cases against pharmaceutical, life sciences, and medical device companies, providers, and executives. It has focused on criminal and civil fraud, such as violations of the False Claims Act and the Anti-Kickback Statute, Medicaid and Medicare fraud, money laundering, wire and mail fraud, and illegal prescriptions of controlled substances.

Now, the Strike Force will act as a “force multiplier” providing additional resources to the Boston office’s dedicated Health Care Fraud Unit to investigate and prosecute healthcare fraud. According to the DOJ, the Strike Force will focus on data-driven cases based in Massachusetts.

The Strike Force

Strike forces have been used by the DOJ’s Health Care Fraud Unit in various regions throughout the country since March 2007. They consist of interagency units made up of prosecutors and investigators from various law enforcement agencies that rely on data analysis techniques in conjunction with the traditional investigative methods deployed to detect, target, and prosecute healthcare fraud schemes.

The Strike Force was launched in June 2022 and previously included the United States Attorneys’ Offices for the Districts of Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont, focusing on civil and criminal healthcare fraud. With the addition of the District of Massachusetts, the Strike Force will partner with a whole host of federal and state law enforcement agencies: the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General, the Food and Drug Administration, the Drug Enforcement Administration, Homeland Security Investigations, the Department of Veteran Affairs Office of Inspector General, and the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigations, the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit of Massachusetts, and the Insurance Fraud Bureau of Massachusetts.

The Strike Force has already exercised significant enforcement discretion focusing on corporate accountability and resolving cases against companies engaging in systematic fraudulent conduct. For example, in August 2025, the DOJ Health Care Fraud Unit also entered into a non-prosecution agreement with Troy Health, Inc., agreeing to pay $1.43 million for the use of artificial intelligence and automation software to obtain Medicare beneficiary information and fraudulently enroll beneficiaries into its Medicare Advantage plans. That same month, the DOJ Health Care Fraud Unit entered into a resolution with the Kimberly-Clark Corporation, in which the company agreed to pay $40 million to resolve criminal charges under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act for the sale of adulterated surgical gowns with the intent to defraud and mislead.

Key Takeaways

While the District of Massachusetts has historically had a robust healthcare fraud division, the expansion of the Strike Force to Massachusetts aligns with the DOJ’s white collar enforcement priorities of targeting fraud, waste, and abuse in the healthcare sector. And as the recent cases against Troy Health, Inc. and the Kimberly-Clark Corporation exemplify, companies and executives in the healthcare and life sciences space can expect to see accelerated detection and investigation into fraud, a focus on data-driven investigations, and multi-agency coordination.

Buchanan’s White Collar Defense, Compliance & Investigations attorneys can assist in developing robust healthcare compliance programs to shield against government scrutiny and are available to navigate healthcare fraud investigations from the government.