Afghanistan Withdrawal Signals End Date to Police Wartime Fraud

The end of direct U.S. military involvement in Afghanistan may finally provide an end date for when federal prosecutors could bring wartime criminal fraud cases—30 years after the fraud occurred.

Under the Wartime Suspension of Limitations Act, enacted in 1948, statutes of limitation don’t start to run until “5 years after the termination of hostilities as proclaimed by a Presidential proclamation, with notice to Congress, or by a concurrent resolution of Congress.”

Statutes of limitation for fraud generally are five years, but that period doesn’t begin until the separate 5-year WSLA period ends.

That means prosecutors have up to ten ...