On July 8, the US Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Antitrust Division, in partnership with the United States Postal Service (USPS), announced the launch of a Whistleblower Rewards Program. This new initiative is designed to incentivize individuals to report violations of antitrust laws and crimes impacting USPS, its revenue, or its property.
For the first time, the Antitrust Division will offer substantial monetary rewards — between 15% to 30% of any criminal fines recovered — to individuals who provide credible and timely information about illegal activities such as price-fixing, bid-rigging, and market allocation for prosecutions of at least $1 million in fines. Notably, the US Securities and Exchange Commission offers whistleblowers a reward range from 10% to 30%. The DOJ entered a memorandum of understanding, which outlines the program requirements, with the USPS and United States Postal Service Office of Inspector General (USPS OIG) to form the whistleblower program. Reports can be submitted through a dedicated webpage, and whistleblowers are encouraged to act promptly to help ensure fair competition and accountability.
The government stressed that the newly established program is an example of the DOJ’s commitment to root out illicit behavior in all industries, which includes industries where the USPS procures goods and services either directly or indirectly. Assistant Inspector General for Investigations Robert Kwalwasser explained that the USPS OIG “actively collaborates with other federal agencies to detect, investigate, and prosecute antitrust crimes.” Assistant Attorney General Abigail Slater further emphasized that antitrust crimes often occur in secret, making detection difficult. The new program aims to break down barriers to uncovering these offenses by encouraging those with firsthand knowledge to come forward.
The new whistleblowing program adds to the DOJ’s recent rollout of reporting initiatives. In May, the DOJ revised its Corporate Whistleblower Awards Pilot Program to cover more programs, including fraud involving federal programs, federal immigration law, and trade, tariff, and customs fraud, among other areas.
The program gives individuals a new financial incentive for reporting antitrust violations. A whistleblower may have unique insight into potential antitrust violations that could be hard for the government to otherwise identify. A company dealing with a subsequent government antitrust investigation may lose customer loyalty and investor support. To get ahead of whistleblower complaints, companies may want to establish confidential internal reporting mechanisms that employees use to report violations. Companies may consider educating their sales, marketing, and purchasing employees on antitrust-related policies and ensure they review potential price-fixing or bid-rigging violations.
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