ALBUQUERQUE – Today, Attorney General Hector Balderas announced the creation of the Fraud Recovery Strike Force – a unit in his office charged with aggressively investigating and pursuing litigation to protect New Mexico consumers, New Mexico taxpayers and to recover public funds.
“The Fraud Recovery Strike Force will investigate and litigate in the public interest, support legislation and aggressively pursue damages, and recover public funds,” Balderas said. “The unit’s priorities are to recover funds for the state’s treasury from people and companies who cheat the public, and to protect New Mexico’s economy and vulnerable consumer populations from abusive business practices.”
The Fraud Recovery Strike Force is charged with investigating false claims and deceptive practices, and is partnering with whistle-blowers to expose abuse and corruption. The strike force will enforce state and federal law in order to recover millions of dollars fleeced from the public treasury and New Mexico’s economy at no additional cost to the taxpayer.
Its efforts will be directed to high priority risk areas including securities fraud, investments with public employee retirement funds, health care fraud, and marketplace fraud.
Some of these efforts are already underway in the form of ongoing litigation being handled by the Office of the Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud and Elder Abuse Division against companies misusing public funds and offering sub-par care to vulnerable New Mexicans.
Other active cases include litigation against credit card companies for restraint of trade and litigation against private colleges for deceptive marketing, unfair practices and misrepresentation.
The Fraud Recovery Strike Force is comprised of three existing divisions of the Office of the Attorney General – Consumer Protection, Litigation, and Medicaid Fraud – in order to leverage resources to maximize funds recovered on behalf of New Mexicans from unfair trade practices and other fraud.
To report fraud by a company or individual paid with public dollars, or to report an abusive business practice, contact the Fraud Recovery Strike Force through the Attorney General’s toll free number, 1-866-627-3249.
