WASHINGTON — The Justice Department on Wednesday announced a whistleblower program that would give potentially large rewards to anyone who reports antitrust crimes.
The crimes typically involve organized deception that hurts consumers, taxpayers and free market competition.
Whistleblowers who provide the Justice Department with original information leading to criminal fines or recoveries of at least $1 million would be eligible for rewards between 15%-30% of the recovery amount.
The exact amount would be a matter of discretion for the Justice Department’s antitrust division.
Antitrust refers to laws and regulations designed to promote and protect fair competition in markets, prevent monopolistic practices and safeguard consumers.
The whistleblower program is initially targeted at antitrust crimes involving the U.S. Postal Service. It could be expanded to a broader array of antitrust violations later.
“Antitrust crimes and related offenses that harm free market competition often occur in secret, making detection a formidable challenge,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney General Abigail Slater in a statement. “The new Whistleblower Rewards Program will create a new pipeline of leads from individuals with firsthand knowledge of criminal antitrust and related offenses that will help us break down those walls of secrecy and hold violators accountable.”
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