November 20, 2019
The United States Department of Justice (“DOJ”) recently announced a new enforcement initiative that could impact all individuals and companies involved in government contracting.
The Procurement Collusion Strike Force (the “Strike Force”) will focus on investigating and prosecuting potential antitrust crimes and related schemes in taxpayer-funded projects at the federal, state and local levels. While the Strike Force will be a nationwide, interagency effort, it will initially focus on 13 specific pilot districts throughout the country. One of the Strike Force’s pilot districts is the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, which encompasses Berks, Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Lancaster, Lehigh, Montgomery, Northampton and Philadelphia counties.
The Strike Force’s objective is typified by a string of recent prosecutions for bid rigging in government contracting. These efforts resulted in the indictment of individuals, the conviction of corporate entities, and the payment of hundreds of millions of dollars in criminal fines and civil settlements by companies involved in bid-rigging activities. While these prosecutions all predate formation of the Strike Force, they are surely a sign of the enhanced enforcement efforts that are to come in the area of government procurement.
Altogether, the announcement of the Strike Force strongly signals that, going forward, there will be increased scrutiny of individuals and companies involved in the bidding process for government contracts. As an example, this could include entities that provide goods or services to the federal government, as well as to any state or local government agency that uses federal monies, through a competitive bidding process.
Further, as a result of the Strike Force’s increased investigative focus on the procurement process, individuals and companies involved in that process may find themselves swept up in an investigation for which they might need counsel as a witness, subject or target. This can happen to perfectly innocent parties who are merely involved at some stage in the procurement process.
If you would like more information about the Task Force, please consult Geoffrey Johnson at grj@stevenslee.com, or the Stevens & Lee attorney with whom you regularly work.
Related Attorney:
Geoffrey Johnson
This News Alert has been prepared for informational purposes only and should not be construed as, and does not constitute, legal advice on any specific matter. For more information, please see the disclaimer.