HaystackID launches Trade Fraud Investigation Discovery Services as federal enforcement intensifies
HaystackID®, a trusted partner focused on managing complex data and workflow challenges in legal, compliance, regulatory and cybersecurity environments, today announced the launch of HaystackID Trade Fraud Investigation…
Defensible discovery offering helps corporations and outside counsel respond to government requests, grand jury subpoenas and internal reviews as trade fraud exposure converges from several directions
CHICAGO, Nov. 10, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- HaystackID®, a trusted partner focused on managing complex data and workflow challenges in legal, compliance, regulatory and cybersecurity environments, today announced the launch of HaystackID Trade Fraud Investigation Discovery Services. The offering helps corporations and their law firms identify, preserve, analyze, review and produce complete and defensible evidence in response to civil investigative demands, grand jury subpoenas and qui tam matters, and during internal investigations of potential trade fraud.
Trade fraud has become a top civil and criminal enforcement priority for the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and its partners at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), including U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Homeland Security Investigations. DOJ and DHS launched the cross-agency Trade Fraud Task Force in August 2025, and on July 14, DOJ reported that the task force had surpassed $1 billion in civil and criminal recoveries, penalties, forfeitures and publicly charged losses in less than one year.
Whistleblowers continue to drive False Claims Act (FCA) enforcement. In fiscal year 2025, about 78% of FCA recoveries came from qui tam matters, underscoring the role of whistleblower suits brought by current and former employees, brokers, competitors and other insiders.
On Oct. 1, Assistant Attorney General Colin M. McDonald issued Directive 26-12, "Corporate Enforcement in the Fight Against Fraud," directing prosecutors in the DOJ's National Fraud Enforcement Division to take an "all-tools approach" to the division's health care, government, tax and trade fraud priorities. The directive lists "fraud schemes involving tariff evasion, importation of goods or services, or forced labor" among its corporate enforcement priorities.
As federal enforcement intensifies, organizations under scrutiny for trade fraud can face civil, criminal and regulatory exposure from several directions at once:
- FCA liability, including treble damages and penalties, and qui tam actions brought by whistleblowers.
- Criminal exposure under federal smuggling, customs fraud and related statutes, with certain offenses potentially supporting money laundering, conspiracy and other criminal charges.
- Civil penalties under Section 592 of the Tariff Act of 1930, which for fraudulent violations can reach the domestic value of the merchandise.
- Forced labor enforcement, including actions under the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act and related import restrictions.
- Competitor claims under the Lanham Act, consumer claims under state consumer protection and unfair competition laws, CBP enforcement involving false or misleading country-of-origin representations, and Federal Trade Commission enforcement involving deceptive "Made in USA" claims.
Investigations can extend across the supply chain and involve substantial volumes of commercial, customs, financial and communications data. The quality of a company's discovery response can affect its credibility with investigators, the government's assessment of the matter and the terms of any resolution.
"Enforcement agencies are applying data analytics and AI to millions of entry records to find anomalies, and the companies they investigate need the same capability on their side of the table," said Chad Pinson, chief executive officer at HaystackID. "Trade Fraud Investigation Discovery Services brings our forensics, Global Advisory, AI and managed review teams into a single investigation process that gives counsel the findings and the source record behind them."
Scoping, preservation and analysis: Defensible from the start
HaystackID works under the direction of outside counsel, supporting the investigation while helping legal teams maintain appropriate privilege and work-product protections. Each engagement is staffed with Global Advisory experts, project managers, certified forensic examiners and managed review teams, and HaystackID serves as the data hub for the forensic accountants and compliance experts on the matter. At the outset, the team turns the government's request into a data plan and gives counsel validated burden and cost estimates to support scope negotiations with the agencies. Given the legal obligations surrounding import records and the risks associated with spoliation or obstruction, the team preserves potentially relevant data across Microsoft 365, enterprise resource planning and customs systems, mobile devices and messaging applications, and the HaystackID TRACE™ Suite preserves enterprise AI interactions.
HaystackID Case Insight™ and CaseBot™ surface the people, issues and documents that matter most, while specialists reconcile entry data against the commercial record, testing declared value, classification, origin and routing entry by entry. Every finding ties back to its source documents, and AI outputs are validated by HaystackID experts and counsel through sampling and quality metrics.
"Trade fraud investigations now move on civil and criminal tracks at the same time, and a company rarely gets a second chance to show the government it took the inquiry seriously," said Ashish Prasad, vice president and general counsel at HaystackID, who leads the company's trade fraud program. "Our job is to help counsel build a record that is complete enough to answer the agency and precise enough to surface the mitigating evidence a narrow review can miss."
Review and agency support: From first production to resolution
HaystackID's managed review teams draw on a network of more than 35,000 reviewers. Defensibility reports and chain-of-custody documentation support counsel's presentations to agencies, and entry data analysis helps identify the merchandise and entries involved in a potential prior disclosure to CBP. The same approach can also support ongoing trade fraud compliance assessments.
"General counsel facing a trade fraud inquiry want one accountable partner from the first strategy session through the final production," said Nate Latessa, chief revenue officer at HaystackID. "Every engagement has a defined team and a single point of escalation, so legal teams can focus on strategy and agency communications while we manage the data."
The services are available now. To learn more or to request a proposal, contact HaystackID at 800-267-9695 or Info@HaystackID.com, or visit HaystackID.com.
About HaystackID®
HaystackID® solves complex data challenges related to legal, compliance, regulatory and cyber requirements. Core offerings include Global Advisory, Cybersecurity, HaystackID® Case Insight™, and ReviewRight® Global Managed Review, supported by its eDiscovery AI® technology. Recognized globally by industry leaders, including Chambers, Gartner, IDC and Legaltech News, HaystackID helps corporations and legal practices manage data gravity, where information demands action, and workflow gravity, where critical requirements demand coordinated expertise, delivering innovative solutions with a continual focus on security, privacy and integrity. Learn more at HaystackID.com.
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