Anisa Henderson (Florida, USA / Washington, DC, USA)

Overview

In November 2019, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) launched a special unit called the Procurement Collusion Strike Force (PCSF). PCSF states that "control, detection, investigation, and prosecution of crimes that violate antitrust laws, such as collusion of fraudulent bidding and related fraudulent plans that may undermine competition in government procurement, subsidies, and business financing. It is a unit that "does intensively".

The DOJ's target so far has been companies that have received orders for public works projects, but with the launch of this special team, it is possible to collect information throughout the country in collaboration with other government-affiliated organizations, and antitrusts that may occur in the future. You can now focus your resources on investigating legal crimes.

Related websites

・ Press release released by DOJ: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-announces-procurement-collusion-strike-force-coordinated-national-response

・ PCSF official site: https://www.justice.gov/procurement-collusion-strike-force

(Photo by bill oxford on Unsplash)

Lawyer's view

With the launch of the PBSF, the number of whistleblowing proceedings, Kitam proceedings (procedures filed by a person who has evidence of violating the federal system or contract against a fraudster on behalf of the government) and related proceedings will increase. Is expected. PCSF will bring about new cases one after another.

At the same time, we anticipate that the use of data in the DOJ and legal industries will become more sophisticated.Data analysis is expected to play a major role in government surveys in the future.

Points that companies should be aware of

Much of the investigation into alleged antitrust violations stems from whistleblowers reporting to the DOJ or information obtained in the process of investigating another case.As a result, antitrust violations are becoming increasingly difficult to cover up, and more fines will be imposed if the DOJ finds a violation before the company self-reports.Public works contractors in the United States should take the time to scrutinize their risks and implement appropriate compliance codes.