BREAKING — Fraud Division head Colin McDonald just announced the first-ever nationwide tax fraud enforcement surge

In the past 45 days, the division’s tax section and U.S. Attorney’s offices nationwide brought prosecutorial actions against 76 defendants whose alleged and proven schemes totaled more than $490 million in intended loss.

That total includes new charges against 31 defendants whose schemes alone targeted roughly $350 million. The coordinated push is the division's greatest concentrated tax-fraud effort.

The division filed the 76 cases in a 45-day window. The dollar figure attached to them exceeds $490 million.

The new charges add another $350 million. The surge is already producing results in multiple districts at the same time.