The Justice Department’s Antitrust Division is giving a whistleblower reward for the first time, gifting $1 million to a person who helped lead federal authorities to a criminal antitrust and fraud scheme of used car auctions.
The award, in conjunction with the U.S. Postal Service, comes under the Antitrust Division’s whistleblower rewards program.
If a whistleblower provides new information that assists the division in bringing charges, the person might receive a significant award — even if the criminal activity has already ended, the DOJ’s press release said.
“Whistleblowers serve as the Justice System’s greatest disinfectant against criminal antitrust conspiracies,” Deputy Assistant Attorney General Omeed Assefi said. “This $1 million reward not only recognizes a whistleblower for bravely stepping forward to report crimes to the Antitrust Division, but also underscores the indispensable role whistleblowers will continue to play in the Division’s criminal enforcement program.”
The whistleblower’s tip led the DOJ onto EBlock, a company that runs an online marketplace for buying and selling used cars. Under the deferred prosecution agreement, it will pay a $3.28 million criminal fine, avoiding immediate criminal charges.
EBlock acquired what the DOJ called Company A, another online auction platform for used vehicles, in November 2020, but did not immediately end the bid-rigging conspiracy and fraud at Company A, according to the DOJ.
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