Trump Creates Task Force to Police Elder, Cyber Frauds

Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein stated at the briefing that the task force would zero in on cases that involve fraud against the government, the financial markets and consumers — procurement and grant fraud, as well as securities and commodities, digital currency, money laundering, health care and tax frauds.

One of the task force's first priorities, Rosenstein said, "will be to survey all of our members and identify areas of vulnerability to ensure that we devote appropriate resources to address them. Our goal is not to prosecute fraud, our goal is to deter fraud. That's going to be our primary objective."

Mick Mulvaney, acting director of the CFPB, stated that "being a member of this task force will give the bureau a chance to prove a lot of what you've heard about us since I took over management of the bureau is not accurate."

The bureau "absolutely intend[s] to continue to protect consumers. It's what … Dodd-Frank requires us to do, mandates that we do it, and we will continue to do it … we've been doing it."

"Fraud is against the law. It already is," Mulvaney added. "We don't need agencies like the bureau to make new law. What we need them to do is enforce laws that exist and that's exactly what we intend to do as part of this task force."

SEC Chairman Jay Clayton noted during the briefing the agency's creation of its retail strategy and cyber task forces, stating that during his little more than a year at the commission, the agency has issued "over 20 temporary restraining orders and about 30 asset freezes" related to fraud.

Cyber threats, he continued, "present some of the greatest risks confronting today's financial markets," with bad actors using "new technology to perpetrate old frauds, including securities offering frauds."

— Related on ThinkAdvisor:

• Legendary Ex-Fraudster Frank Abagnale Says Cybercrime Will Turn Deadly
• FINRA Reveals Where Fine Money Went