Created in 2019, the Procurement Collusion Strike Force leads a coordinated national response to combat antitrust crimes and related schemes in government procurement, grant and program funding at all levels of government—federal, state and local, according to the Department of Justice. The Procurement Collusion Strike Force comprises the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division, multiple U.S. Attorneys’ Offices, the FBI and the inspectors general for various federal agencies.
If collusive conduct is discovered, the Procurement Collusion Strike Force will investigate and criminally prosecute the individuals and corporations involved. Criminal penalties for violating the Sherman Antitrust Act include fines of up to $1 million for individuals or $100 million for companies and up to 10 years of imprisonment. Additionally, those convicted of procurement-related crimes are likely to be debarred from federal procurement awards for a period of time and are subject to civil liability.
Collusion and anticompetitive conduct include:
- Bid rigging: This is when two or more firms agree to bid in a way that results in a designated firm submitting the winning bid.
- Price fixing: This happens when two or more competing sellers agree on what prices to charge; for example, they agree they will increase prices a certain amount or will not sell below a certain price.
- Customer or market allocation: This involves two or more firms agreeing to split up customers, such as by geographic area, to reduce or eliminate competition.
The Department of Justice says such agreements typically are secret, and participants defraud customers by portraying themselves as competitors despite an agreement not to compete.
