Fraud Accountability and Recovery Act

This bill, titled the Fraud Accountability and Recovery Act, would amend the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to restrict U.S. foreign assistance. Specifically, it prohibits the President from providing any assistance under the Foreign Assistance Act to a government that (a) has failed to extradite an individual convicted of fraud against the United States or benefiting from proceeds of such fraud, or (b) has failed to take all appropriate legal, administrative, or enforcement steps to aid in recovering funds fraudulently taken from the U.S. The President would have a narrow waiver option if prohibiting assistance is contrary to national security. The bill also requires a regular State Department report listing noncompliant countries and the related amounts recovered or not recovered. The findings emphasize estimated federal fraud losses and highlight a notable fraud case as context for the measure. In short, the bill would give the United States a diplomatic and funding tool to pressure countries to extradite fraud convicts and cooperate in recovering stolen federal funds, while preserving a presidential waiver in cases of national security concerns and mandating government transparency about noncompliant countries.