JACKSON – Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch joined federal prosecutors and the FBI on Tuesday to launch Joint Task Force Vigilance, a new partnership aimed at investigating and prosecuting fraud and other crimes across the state.
The task force brings together the Mississippi Attorney General’s Office, the FBI, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Mississippi and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Mississippi.
Officials said the initiative is designed to combine federal and state resources to investigate fraud, human trafficking, illicit drug activity and crimes involving criminal aliens.
“The Department of Justice made Mississippi’s Joint Task Force Vigilance the first of its kind, a model for bringing together federal and state agencies to fight con artists, grifters, fraudsters, and scammers,” Fitch said.
U.S. Attorneys Baxter Kruger and Scott Leary also said the partnership will allow agencies to work across jurisdictional lines and better coordinate prosecutions.
The Mississippi Attorney General’s Office received more than $2.5 million from the U.S. Department of Justice in July to establish the task force.
According to the Attorney General’s Office, the funding will be used to hire and equip five experienced prosecutors, along with a support and enforcement team.
Officials said the group will focus on investigating and prosecuting fraud, human trafficking, illicit drug activity and other criminal cases that may involve both state and federal agencies.
