Action—brought following first-ever whistleblower reward—ends with DPA, including $3.28 million fine, remedial measures.
EBlock Corporation, which offers an online auction platform for used vehicles, has been charged with conspiring to rig bids for used vehicles sold on its auction platform and defrauding customers who used the platform. The Department of Justice Antitrust Division has agreed to resolve the allegations through a deferred prosecution agreement (DPA), under which EBlock agreed to pay a $3.28 million criminal fine and to undertake remedial measures. The charges and DPA followed an investigation initiated by a whistleblower report. A $1 million reward was provided to the whistleblower who gave information that led to charges and DPA. According to the January 29 Antitrust Division announcement, this was the agency’s first-ever whistleblower reward. The case was filed in the federal district court in Riverside, California, on January 22 (U.S. v. EBlock Corp., Case No. 5:26-cr-00013-SSS-1).
According to the government, EBlock in 2020 acquired an unnamed California-based auction company that provided a digital platform for sellers to put their vehicles up for auction to commercial buyers. The acquired company was allegedly already participating in a conspiracy with an unnamed used automobile wholesale company that dated as far back as 2015 to manipulate online auctions of used vehicles in violation of the Sherman Act and to commit wire fraud.
These unnamed...
PORTLAND, Maine (WGME) -- A week after employees at the Holy Donut on Park Avenue in Portland told the company they were looking to unionize, the company now says those workers made false accusati...