The FTC will expand its Criminal Referral Program as part of a continued effort to combat corporate crimes, including consumer protection misconduct and antitrust violations. In a public statement, the FTC said that this expansion will increase the agency's ability to quickly and efficiently report misconduct to the appropriate law enforcement authorities for criminal prosecutions.
The FTC explained that it will enhance its collaborations with law enforcement partners by:
- continuing to support cross-agency efforts and develop best practices to ensure that criminal law violations are identified and reported promptly to the proper authorities;
- convening regular meetings to facilitate coordination among those partners and across all enforcement areas;
- continuing to offer trainings for all law enforcement partners on the Consumer Sentinel database system, an investigative cyber tool developed by the FTC for use by law enforcement agencies; and
- publicly reporting on its criminal referral program at regular intervals to emphasize the importance of FTC referrals that lead to criminal prosecutions.
The FTC voted 4-0 to approve the statement.
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