New Justice Dept. 'Strike Force' on the Prowl.

• Author: Fanelli, Mike
• Position: Government Contracting Insights

* On Nov. 5, the Department of Justice announced the launch of the Procurement Collusion Strike Force, or PCSF. Its creation marks a significant development in the government procurement enforcement landscape.

The new strike force is devoted to "deterring, detecting, investigating and prosecuting antitrust crimes," including price fixing, hid rigging, market allocation and lahor market allocation/wage fixing. It consists of prosecutors and investigators across the U.S. government.

The strike force prioritizes the Justice Department's focus on government procurement offenses. As part of that effort, it has launched a virtually accessible hotline to report offenses and is developing a more detailed complaint form for the general public to report suspected fraud, thereby increasing the risk of costly investigations, as well as criminal and civil penalties.

The PCSF is a byproduct of Justice's concern over fraudulent procurement practices, as exemplified by the department's recent announcement of settlements with five South Korean energy companies accused of a decade-long bid-rigging scheme that targeted fuel supply contracts to U.S. military bases in South Korea.

Although the rollout of the strike force is ongoing, the department has offered some insights into its new features. The newly launched PCSF website asks tipsters to identify the companies and/or individuals involved in the suspected antitrust violations; the government contract, grant, or program that is affected by the alleged conduct; and a description of the conduct that the tipster believes violates antitrust law.

To "facilitate reporting by the public of complaints, concerns, and tips regarding potential antitrust crimes affecting government procurement, grants and program funding," the department also intends to post a Procurement Collusion Strike Force complaint form to streamline the whistleblowing process. At a minimum, this streamlined process will encourage more whistle-blowers, qui tarn lawsuits and accompanying investigations.

In conjunction, the department has made presentation materials available on its website relating to procurement offenses designed to help identify anticompetitive and fraudulent practices, including various forms of bid-rigging activity. They appear to be part of a larger initiative to train federal, state and local procurement officials and auditors to better detect fraudulent practices. The initiative inevitably will result in increased...