U.S. Department of Justice Investigations

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U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

INVESTIGATIONS

This chapter provides a general overview of U.S. Department of

Justice (DOJ) investigations.

A. Antitrust Division

1.

Overview

The DOJ Antitrust Division has primary jurisdiction over criminal

violations of the antitrust laws. The Director of Criminal Litigation in

charge of the Antitrust Division has supervisory authority over all

investigations involving possible violations of the antitrust laws. 1

Criminal antitrust investigations typically are conducted by one of the

Antitrust Division’s criminal prosecuting offices. But in certain cases,

U.S. Attorney’s offices are permitted to conduct antitrust investigations

with the approval and supervision of the Antitrust Division.2 The Antitrust

Division also may investigate non-antitrust crimes when those crimes are

committed in connection with antitrust crimes or the investigation thereof

(such as perjury or obstruction of justice), or when those crimes harm

competition in the market.

2.

Organization

The Antitrust Division has five criminal prosecuting offices: Chicago,

New York, San Francisco, Washington Criminal I, and Washington

Criminal II. Each office is supervised by a Chief, along with one or two

Assistant Chiefs. Each office reports to the Director of Criminal

Enforcement and the Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Criminal

Enforcement.

1. 28 C.F.R. §0.40(a).

2. U.S. DEP’T OF JUSTIC E, JUSTICE MANUAL § 7-1.000 (2018) [hereinafter

JUSTICE MANUAL], available at https://www.justice. gov/jm/jm-7-1000-

policy.

26 International Antitrust Cartel Handbook

Each office has a designated geographic territory, as follows:3

The geographic territory of the offices typically determines where

local and regional investigations are assigned. However, because the

conduct and effects involved in international cartels usually are not limited

to one locality, the assigned territories are not determinative in the

assignment of international cartel investigations, which are assigned

among the offices based on multiple factors, such as the location of the

subjects, office capacity, and industry expertise.

B. Antitrust Division Investigative Tactics and Procedures

1.

Sources of Investigations

There are many ways in which investigations may be initiated. Some

of the more common sources of investigations are:

• Leniency Applicants: The Antitrust Division’s highly successful

leniency program incentivizes both corporate and individual cartel

participants to self-report their conduct by applying for leniency.

3. Image reprinted from U.S. DEP’T OF JUSTICE , ANTITRUST RESOURCE

MANUAL (last updated Nov. 2017), available at

https://www.justice.gov/jm/antitrust-resource -manual.

DOJ Investigations 27

As described more fully below, leniency may result in immunity

from prosecution for the reported conduct, as well as de-trebling

any civil damages.4

• Employees and Former Employees: Employees may report their

companies for antitrust violations. If the employee participated in

the violation, the employee may apply for individual leniency that

would cover that employee but not necessarily his employer. But

there are also occasions where employees did not participate in

the violation but are nevertheless aware of it. For example, a sales

employee may be prohibited by superiors from competing for

certain business, and may suspect that the prohibition is the result

of an anticompetitive agreement. That employee may report his

suspicions to the Antitrust Division.

• Customer Complaints: Customers may contact the Antitrust

Division if they suspect that their suppliers are engaged in

anticompetitive conduct. Government agencies and purchasing

divisions of large companies may notice suspicious bidding and

pricing patterns that suggest collusion, such as lockstep price

increases or refusal to offer or negotiate pricing. The Antitrust

Division works closely with many government agencies and

inspector general offices to identify suspicious patterns or

suspicious behavior among suppliers, such as similar arithmetic

errors across purportedly independent bids or similar handwriting

(for hard copy documents) or metadata (for electronic documents)

on bids.

• Competitor Complaints: Cartels function best when there are a

limited number of participants in an industry. Accordingly, cartel

members may act in concert to try to keep out new entrants in the

market. A company may contact the Antitrust Division if it has

received an invitation to join a cartel, or if it suspects that its

competitors are keeping it from entering the market in order to

protect an existing cartel.

• News Reports: The Antitrust Division may initiate an

investigation when staff learns of suspicious behavior from the

news. This may occur when the media reports on lockstep price

increases, or when the media reports on severe price increases or

supply shortages for a particular good.

4. See Antitrust Div., U.S. Dep’t of Justice, Leniency Program (updated Feb.

2, 2017), available at https://www.justice.gov/atr/leniency-program.