DOJ Antitrust Implements Whistleblower Incentive

On July 8, the Antitrust Division of the United States Justice Department (“DOJ Antitrust”) announced a Whistleblowers Rewards Program (“Program”) in partnership with another member of the Procurement Collusion Strike Force, the U.S. Postal Service. The Program will allow for individual whistleblowers who report antitrust crimes to receive rewards in appropriate cases. The collaboration brings together DOJ Antitrust, the Postal Service, and its Office of Inspector General, as part of a larger initiative to crack down on antitrust conduct through agency collaboration. The Program is meant to solve traditional barriers to detection of hardcore antitrust crimes like price fixing and bid rigging.

In announcing the settlement, DOJ Antitrust noted that the Postal Service is a key partner in detecting, investigating, and prosecuting antitrust crimes and that the new program will incentivize individual reporting of antitrust crimes. Assistant Attorney General Gail Slater said that the new program will create a “new pipeline of leads from individuals with firsthand knowledge of criminal antitrust and related offenses that will help” DOJ Antitrust break down the “walls of secrecy” that have historically prevented detection of antitrust crimes and related offenses. The Program is expected to help resolve issues with detection of hardcore antitrust conduct by incentivizing individual reporting to the DOJ with the prospect of a lucrative reward for whistleblower reports that successfully result in a substantial criminal fine.

Whistleblowers may qualify for rewards if they meet specific criteria:

1. The reported violation may affect a wide range of industries – from health care to agriculture – and relate to price fixing, bid rigging, market allocation, or other antitrust crimes, but the reported violation must affect the Postal Service. The press release and dedicated landing page for the program do not provide further details of examples of postal-related antitrust crimes, but the Memorandum of Understanding related to the program provides that an official at the Postal Service must assess whether allegations reported under the program reasonably articulate violations of law affecting the Postal Service, its revenues, or its property. This standard is met when sufficient facts and evidence are provided for the United States Postal Inspection Service Official to conclude that the Postal Service has suffered an identifiable harm—though the harm need not be material or otherwise pose any substantial detriment to the Postal Service.
   • Certain criminal offenses are presumptively eligible, such as criminal Sherman Act violations and federal criminal violations targeting or affecting procurement or the conduct of federal competition investigations or proceedings.
   • The program is sourced from the Postal Service’s statutory ability to collect and remit fines, penalties, and forfeitures arising out of matters affecting it; hence, the threshold for obtaining a reward under the program requires that the underlying antitrust (or other illegal) conduct affects the Postal Service. It is possible, however, that the program will be applied broadly and that the Postal Service effect requirement may not be a roadblock to whistleblowers successfully obtaining rewards throughout a wide swath of industries. 
2. The information provided by the whistleblower must be original, specific, credible, timely, and voluntarily provided. 
   • If the whistleblower is an officer, director, trustee, or partnership of an entity and another person informed them of allegations of misconduct, or they learned the information in connection with the entity’s processes for identifying, reporting, and addressing possible violations of law, then that individual will not be eligible for a reward.
   • Similarly, employees whose principal duties involve compliance or internal audit functions are likely ineligible for the program when reporting information learned through the exercise of those duties.
   • Public accounting firms and their employees are also ineligible for a reward when the information relates to an engagement required of an independent public accountant.
   • The program also is unavailable to individuals who coerced another party to participate in the illegal activity, were the originators of the illegal activity themselves, or obtained the information through certain work relationships with DOJ and the Postal Service or familial relationships with those who work at DOJ and the Postal Service (among other limitations and guardrails placed on the originality of the reported information).
3. The violation must result in a criminal conviction and a fine of at least $1 million or an equivalent recovery from a deferred or non-prosecution agreement.

If these criteria are met and DOJ Antitrust “determines that a whistleblower reward is appropriate,” whistleblowers may receive anywhere from 15 to 30 percent of the recovery. The amount of the reward seems only limited by the statutory limits placed on fines for criminal Sherman Act violations.[1]

The full effect of the program and increased incentive to report will continue to play out as whistleblowers begin to make confidential reports online and either do or do not collect a reward under the program. Note that criminal antitrust investigations can be lengthy, and it could be years before substantial rewards are awarded under the Program. It is unclear whether DOJ Antitrust will announce rewards in press releases related to successful criminal antitrust enforcement cases. The scope of the effect (if any) of alleged criminal antitrust conduct on the Postal Service will be key in assessing whether an individual will be paid a reward. 

The Program reflects the trend of increasing whistleblower rewards programs across agencies. In August 2024, DOJ issued the Whistleblower Awards Pilot Program, introducing certain monetary incentives to be awarded at DOJ’s discretion if the whistleblower provides original, truthful information about certain crimes involving financial institutions, foreign corruption, domestic corruption, or federal health care offenses. In May 2025, DOJ updated the Whistleblower Awards Pilot Program to add new enforcement priorities as eligible subject areas that may qualify for an award when reported on, including violations related to trade, tariffs, or customs law; federal immigration law; sanctions offenses; material support of terrorism; and violations arising from cartels and transnational criminal organizations.

Mintz will continue to monitor developments regarding the Whistleblower Rewards Program. If you have questions about the program or criminal antitrust conduct and enforcement in general, please reach out to one of the individuals listed above or your regular Mintz attorney.
 

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