On April 30, 2026, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced the Fraud Oversight through Careful Use of Statics (FOCUS) initiative to combat fraud by connecting with and supporting data miner whistleblowers bringing False Claims Act (FCA) qui tam cases.
What Are Data Miners?
Traditionally, qui tam whistleblowers have been “insiders” or individuals who have personal knowledge of the fraud, often as employees who can point to specific conversations, practices, and documents as evidence of the fraud. As the government has published more data, “data miners,” individuals who are outsiders with no personal knowledge of the defendants, can unearth potential fraud by analyzing the publicly available data and bring FCA cases.
Data miners look to large sets of data, including Medicare and Medicaid claims data published by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), customs and trade data, and loan and grant data using statistical analytics, tools, and AI to find patterns, outliers, and signals suggestive of fraud schemes. We have talked a lot about our own PPP data miners clients who have had a great deal of success.
What is the FOCUS Initiative?
The FOCUS initiative provides an opportunity for the government to triage possible cases brought by sophisticated data miners who understand program rules and dissuade data miners from filing FCA cases who are considering filing more speculative cases.
The DOJ invites both new and established data miners to meet with the DOJ Civil Frauds Section to discuss data miners’ possible cases and analytics capabilities before filing. Although this meeting is voluntary and not a pre-filing requirement, the DOJ will prioritize data miners who “demonstrated an investment in pre-filing diligence.”
Under the FOCUS initiative, the DOJ plans to prioritize allocating resources where data miners identify fraud that would otherwise go undetected by applying sophisticated technology to a regulatory framework. Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate of the Justice Department’s Civil Division explained that “The FOCUS initiative reflects our commitment to ensuring that the Civil Division is engaging with the strongest and most effective partners in the war against fraud.” DOJ’s prioritization of clever data miner whistleblowers was noted by Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brenna E. Jenny of the Justice Department’s Civil Division, stating that the DOJ is “interested in hearing from data miners who believe they have developed particularly effective tools for detecting fraud against the government.”
Seemingly addressing concerns with some FCA qui tam complaints, the DOJ also provides guidance for data miners.
The DOJ explains that the best data miner whistleblowers have both reliable data analyses and a thorough understanding of legal obligations. Data miners should understand that a heightened pleading standard applies to FCA qui tam complaints, meaning that even though data miner-initiated cases do not have insider information, they must still contain particulars of the fraud scheme. Data miners should also consider whether there may be alternative explanations for the outliers or patterns indicating fraud. The DOJ recommends that data miners understand and articulate the regulatory and eligibility requirements in their complaints and partner with others who can help with their understanding of the requirements.
Increase in FCA Qui Tam Cases Brought by Data Miners
The launch of the FOCUS initiative demonstrates DOJ’s acknowledgement that, not only will whistleblower complaints brought by data miners continue to increase, but that data miners are effectively uncovering fraud with successful outcomes in FCA cases.
The number of all FCA qui tam complaints has increased in recent years, from 980 in 2024, to 1,300 in 2025, and already over 780 in 2026. Data miner whistleblowers have brought more than 45% of all FCA qui tam complaints since 2024. Recognizing the prevalence of data miner filed FCA qui tam complaints, Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate of the Justice Department’s Civil Division noted that “Sophisticated data analytics have become an increasingly important means of identifying fraud trends and uncovering patterns of misconduct across federal programs.”
The FOCUS initiative appears to be driven by the wave of qui tam cases brought by data miner whistleblowers in the pandemic-relief fraud space since the Small Business Administration (SBA) publicly released a database showing awards and forgiveness of Payment Protection Program (“PPP”) recipients.
The following are examples of settlements of PPP fraud cases brought by our data miner whistleblowers:
- $9 million settlement involving a roofing company that applied for separate loans for affiliated companies, exceeding the eligibility requirements.
- $2.1 million settlement involving subsidiaries that exceeded the employee eligibility limit had it considered its larger foreign conglomerate affiliate.
- $3.8 million settlement involving the same scheme where a borrower failed to include employees of its foreign affiliates and was ineligible for the Second Draw PPP loan.
- $475,000 plus interest settlement involving a non-profit that was ineligible to receive PPP loans as a “think tank.”
As the government publishes more data and advanced data analytics and AI capabilities become more accessible, opportunities for data miners to bring FCA cases will undoubtedly continue to expand. The FOCUS initiative will incentivize data miners who bring thoughtful whistleblower complaints by providing the possibility of increased DOJ engagement and resources.
Contact Expert Whistleblower Lawyers With Your Questions
Bracker & Marcus LLC represents data miner whistleblowers in cases brought pursuant to the federal False Claims Act. If you have questions about fraud, we are here to help. Book your free evaluation today.