WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A new taskforce focused on fraud in energy markets will look into whether consumers are being gouged at the gas pump or traders are manipulating the markets, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said on Tuesday.
"To the extent that there are inappropriate attempts to manipulate the markets, that there is price gouging, other things of that nature that have had a devastating impact on average Americans .... that will be the focus of this taskforce," he told the House Judiciary Committee.
"To the extent that they are, we will hold them accountable," he said.
Holder cautioned that there were "market forces that are at work and I don't want to oversell what it is we are doing".
Previous administrations have created taskforces to investigate possible manipulation and fraud in the energy markets, but none has resulted in any significant cases or charges.
That said, Holder told the committee that it was a "serious effort" by prosecutors who will look for possible violations of criminal or civil laws. The taskforce held its inaugural meeting on Monday behind closed doors.
The group, announced last month, includes representatives from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the Federal Trade Commission, the Federal Reserve Board, Securities and Exchange Commission and the Departments of Agriculture, Energy, Justice and Treasury.
(Reporting by Jeremy Pelofsky and James Vicini, editing by Dale Hudson)
