With an eye toward protecting the billions of taxpayer dollars going toward through multiple federal, state, and local programs, the Department of Justice Antitrust Division's Procurement Collusion Strike Force ("PCSF") announced new partnerships with the Offices of Inspector General for the United States Department of Energy, Department of the Interior, Department of Transportation and Environmental Protection Agency. These additions bring the PCSF's law enforcement partners to 34.
The press release reiterated the PCSF's mission to protect public procurements from antitrust schemes and other schemes and specifically cited the upcoming distributions related to the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 and the Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors (CHIPS) and Science Act of 2022.
"Recent legislation will finance billions of dollars for government procurements and grants," Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Kanter of the Justice Department's Antitrust Division said upon announcing the new partners in Washington, D.C. "Expanding the PCSF's national partnership to include these critical offices will better position the PCSF to protect taxpayer dollars and combat collusion in government spending."
The PCSF's announcement comes just after its third anniversary. Since its launch, the PCSF has opened more than 60 criminal investigations in the government procurement space and has prosecuted more than 30 companies and individuals involving more than $350 million in public contracts. These prosecutions span a wide array of industries, from healthcare and construction to defense and transportation, underscoring that no industry is insulated form their scope.
Remaining attuned to potential antitrust risk is always important for companies doing business with the government, but it is critical now more than ever as federal, state, and local governments begin distributing funds and enforcers are taking a close look.
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