U.S. Department
of Justice
Strike Force Operations
The Strike Force Model consists of interagency teams made up of investigators and prosecutors that focus on the worst offenders engaged in fraudulent activities, including, chiefly, health care fraud, wire fraud, mail fraud, bank fraud, money laundering offenses, violations of the Anti-Kickback Statute, false statements offenses, Title 42 offenses, Title 26 offenses, and Title 21 offenses, in the highest intensity regions. The Strike Force Model uses advanced data analysis techniques to identify aberrant billing levels in health care fraud “hot spots”—cities with high levels of billing fraud—combined with traditional investigative techniques to target suspicious billing patterns as well as emerging schemes and fraudulent practices that migrate from one community to another.
The first Strike Force was launched in March 2007 as part of the South Florida Initiative, a joint investigative and prosecutorial effort against Medicare fraud, waste, and abuse. Based on the success of these efforts, and increased appropriated funding from Congress for the HCFAC Program, DOJ and HHS-OIG expanded its Strike Force operation beyond Miami, to additional cities and regions—Los Angeles; Detroit; Houston; Brooklyn; the Gulf Coast (New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Gulfport); Tampa; Orlando; Chicago; Newark; Philadelphia; Dallas; the Appalachian Region (Kentucky, Tennessee, Ohio, Virginia, West Virginia, Alabama); the New England Region (New Hampshire, Maine, and Vermont); and Washington, DC (National Rapid Response Strike Force).
Today, nine separate Strike Forces cover separate geographic areas or subject matters: