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.
Collusion and anticompetitive conduct include bid rigging, price fixing and customer or market allocation. 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.
To avoid such consequences, Foley & Lardner LLP recommends companies invest in robust compliance programs that incorporate the following:
- Compliance: A comprehensive antitrust compliance policy, which includes a confidential reporting mechanism that encourages employees to anonymously report potential anticompetitive conduct, allowing for prompt investigation of such reports
- Training: Regular antitrust training for employees—tailored to a company’s business activities—which helps employees learn how to spot anticompetitive conduct such as bid rigging, price fixing, fraud and bribery
- Monitoring: Monitoring programs that track and scrutinize the company’s procurement activity regarding all levels of government contracts and any other higher-risk business activities
