Antitrust

On January 29, 2026, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) Antitrust Division and the US Postal Service (“USPS”) announced that they made a $1 million dollar payment to an individual under the new Whistleblower Rewards Program, which was announced last July. 

This award signifies the Antitrust Division’s ongoing commitment to cartel enforcement, confirms that its enforcement toolkit continues to evolve, and offers a host of practical takeaways for companies to keep in mind to reduce antitrust risk.

The DOJ Antitrust Division’s New Whistleblower Rewards Program

On July 8, 2025, the DOJ Antitrust Division unveiled a new Whistleblower Rewards Program, in cooperation with the USPS, featuring a key incentive for individuals to report antitrust violations: under the new program, individuals who report antitrust violations to the DOJ that result in criminal fines or other recoveries of at least $1 million may be eligible to receive up to 30% of the amount of the resulting fine or recovery as a monetary award.

The rewards program is a notable expansion of the DOJ Antitrust Division’s whistleblower program, which historically did not offer monetary awards and instead relied on the Division’s Corporate Leniency Policy to attract whistleblowers by offering non-prosecution to the first company or individual that voluntarily self-reported an antitrust violation and cooperated in the DOJ’s investigation. Indeed, the new program aligns more closely with longstanding whistleblower initiatives administered by the other agencies like the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”), and the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”), which collectively have paid out hundreds of millions of dollars to whistleblowers over the years.  

A $1 Million Payout

On January 29, 2026, the DOJ Antitrust Division announced its first-ever antitrust whistleblower reward: a $1 million payment made to a whistleblower who provided information leading to EBLOCK Corporation resolving criminal antitrust and fraud charges through a deferred prosecution agreement, under which EBLOCK agreed to pay a $3.28 million criminal fine.

The DOJ alleged that EBLOCK, an online used-vehicle auction platform, conspired to suppress competition and engaged in fraudulent bidding practices on online used-vehicle auctions, in violation of federal law.

Notably, EBLOCK was not alleged to be the original architect of the conspiracy. In November 2020, EBLOCK acquired another used-vehicle auction business, referred to in the prosecution agreement as Company A, which was alleged to have had a pre-existing conspiracy with another used-vehicle company, Company B, to rig bids, share confidential bidding information, and suppress competition in online auctions.  Specifically, the DOJ alleged that Company A employees granted special access and user permissions to Company B employees that allowed them to view other bidders’ confidential information on its auction site and that Company A and Company B also maintained a shared inventory of vehicles purchased pursuant to the bid rigging scheme. The DOJ also alleged that the conspirators engaged in shill bidding by placing fake bids to artificially inflate prices. The DOJ noted that this conduct implicated USPS because documents in support of the scheme were sent via US Mail.  

In entering into the deferred prosecution agreement with EBLOCK, the DOJ noted that EBLOCK “inherited the problem conduct” when it acquired Company A, explaining that COVID-19 hampered proper due diligence at the time of the acquisition, and that EBLOCK did not become aware of the problem conduct until January 2021. Upon finding out, the agreement notes that EBLOCK “rejected the problem conduct” and took steps to stop it. However, “Company A’s legacy employees intentionally hid their continued problem conduct, making it difficult for [EBLOCK] to stop it.”

In addition to the $3.28 million fine, the deferred prosecution agreement also requires EBLOCK to undertake remedial measures, including implementing an appropriate compliance program and cooperating with the Justice Department’s ongoing criminal investigation and any resulting prosecutions.

Implications & Practical Guidance

The DOJ’s new Whistleblower Rewards Program, combined with its first million-dollar payout so soon after launch, sends a clear message to companies: whistleblower reports are likely to become a meaningful driver of future cartel investigations. Indeed, on the same day the reward was announced, Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Criminal Enforcement Omeed Assefi stated that the program had already received a “frenzy” of whistleblower reports and that he expects that the Antitrust Division will make additional announcements in the coming months.

The DOJ’s willingness to pay significant sums for high-quality antitrust tips alters the risk calculus for companies and their employees.  As a result, there are some key takeaways from this announcement that companies should consider: 

• Reporting Quickly Matters: Companies considering whether to self-report under the DOJ’s Leniency Policy must now weigh the increased risk that employees or former employees may race to the government first in hopes of securing a substantial monetary payout. As Mr. Assefi noted in the DOJ’s press release, “the first company in an antitrust cartel that reports its collusion to the Antitrust Division might receive Leniency — but the race is faster now, because employees and their attorneys are incentivized to blow the whistle and beat their companies to the Division’s doorstep.”
• Internal Compliance Programs Need to Provide Credible Reporting Mechanisms: While maintaining robust antitrust compliance programs and offering regular conduct trainings has always been a critical tool to combat antitrust risk, those programs may need to be structured in a way that promotes reporting violations internally and early. Companies should ensure that their reporting mechanisms are viewed by employees as trustworthy, and that reports are quickly addressed once raised. 
• DOJ’s Broad Interpretation of Conduct Affecting the USPS: Based on the result in EBLOCK, the DOJ Antitrust Division appears to be broadly interpreting how conduct affects the USPS. Relying on documentary evidence allegedly in furtherance of the conspiracy sent via mail was enough to satisfy the program’s requirement that reported antitrust violations affect the USPS, its revenues, or its property.
• Acquisition Diligence & Integration is Important: The EBLOCK result also shows that antitrust risk can apply to activities that took place while a current subsidiary was under prior ownership.  Although the alleged conduct pre-dated EBLOCK’s acquisition of Company A, EBLOCK was still on the hook for it. This shows the importance of quickly integrating and implementing compliance programs and trainings post-close.