What happened?

• The DOJ Antitrust Division, together with the Postal Service, announced its first whistleblower reward just six months after launching the Whistleblower Rewards Program in July 2025.
• The whistleblower reported information leading to criminal antitrust and fraud charges against EBLOCK, an online auction platform for used vehicles. EBLOCK resolved these charges through a deferred prosecution agreement, which requires EBLOCK to pay a $3.28 million criminal fine, cooperate with the DOJ Antitrust Division’s continued investigation and any future prosecutions related to the scheme, and implement an appropriate antitrust compliance program.
• The conduct began prior to EBLOCK’s November 2020 acquisition of Company A, which also operated an online auction platform for used vehicles. Before the acquisition, employees at Company A were engaged in a bid-rigging scheme with Company B, a used-auto wholesaler. As part of the scheme, Company A shared confidential bidding information with Company B and conspired with Company B to place fake bids on Company A’s platform to inflate the auction price legitimate buyers paid for used cars.
• The conduct slipped through cracks during the acquisition – EBLOCK did not conduct due diligence or integration in person – and went undetected on Company A’s separate, third-party maintained auction platform until January 2021. Once detected, EBLOCK attempted to end the conduct, but legacy Company A employees continued coordinating with Company B even after Company A’s auctions were finally migrated onto EBLOCK’s auction platform, all while hiding their efforts from EBLOCK. The conduct finally terminated in February 2022.
• The whistleblower will receive a $1 million payment, about 30% of EBLOCK’s fine.

What is the Whistleblower Rewards Program?

• Announced in July 2022, the Whistleblower Rewards Program is a partnership between the DOJ Antitrust Division and the Postal Service in which individuals who report information about criminal antitrust violations are eligible to receive 15% to 30% of resulting criminal recoveries that exceed $1 million.
• The DOJ seems to be using this program to target “hard-core” criminal antitrust violations of Section 1 of the Sherman Act: price fixing, bid rigging, and market allocation. It is worth noting, however, that whistleblowers can receive rewards for other criminal violations of Section 1, 2, and 3 of the Sherman Act, as well as related offenses, such as those that facilitate these activities or conduct that interferes with federal antitrust investigations or proceedings.
• Rewards under the program are available to individuals who voluntarily provide original information about the violation. Even those who were involved in the criminal activity are eligible, so long as they did not coerce another party to participate or were clearly the leader of the criminal activity.
• The violation must affect the Postal Service, such as by using US mail to send documentation related to the illegal activity. The harm to the Postal Service “need not be material,” indicating a low bar to meet this requirement.
• This announcement provides an early indication that the program is bearing fruit for the Antitrust Division. Omeed Assefi, deputy assistant attorney general for the Antitrust Division, remarked at a recent conference that the division is “already seeing a frenzy of people coming forward” under the Whistleblower Rewards Program.

What are the implications for companies?

• Act fast: The Whistleblower Rewards Program will place pressure on companies seeking leniency to accelerate their process for reviewing and self-reporting violations. “Remember,” Assefi warned, “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.”
• Gear up: A plan for quick detection, investigation, and action with respect to antitrust misconduct can help companies get ahead of whistleblowers. Companies should develop clear and confidential internal mechanisms for employees to escalate potential antitrust violations so the company can take appropriate steps to timely investigate the conduct, implement necessary remedial actions, or even seek leniency from the DOJ.
• Check under the hood: It is important for companies engaging in M&A activity to be mindful of antitrust compliance during the acquisition process. Companies should conduct comprehensive antitrust due diligence before the acquisition, assess the potential for any anticompetitive activity (particularly in any separately maintained systems) at the target post-acquisition, and build antitrust training into integration plans.
• Schedule a tune-up: To prevent antitrust violations from going undetected – and from occurring in the first place – companies should design and implement effective compliance programs that are reasonable in relation to their size, resources, and unique exposure to antitrust risk. According to the DOJ’s November 2024 guidance, an appropriate compliance program meets the following basic requirements:

1. Features policies and procedures designed to prevent antitrust violations;
2. Fosters a culture of antitrust compliance through the example and encouragement of senior leadership;
3. Assigns a senior leader, and, if needed, outside counsel, to implement a compliance program;
4. Conducts periodic antitrust risk assessments;
5. Develops an antitrust training program for all relevant employees; and
6. Creates a reporting system that allows employees to confidentially and anonymously report potential antitrust violations and is designed to promptly respond.

The DOJ’s guidance also reminds companies that their compliance programs should not be static: Companies should update their compliance programs as their operations, the law, and industry practices evolve.