US: DOJ to curb bid-rigging in government purchases

The US Justice Department plans to be more aggressive in pressing antitrust charges against companies that have rigged bids for government contracts, the agency’s antitrust chief said on Thursday, November 15.

Makan Delrahim, head of the antitrust division, made the remarks in a speech a day after the department settled bid-rigging charges with three South Korean companies which supplied fuel to U.S. military in that country.

SK Energy; GS Caltex, 50% owned by Chevron; and Hanjin Transportation agreed to pay $236 million in civil damages and criminal fines, the department said on Wednesday, November 14.

The investigation is ongoing, said Delrahim.

Delrahim said few cases of bid-rigging had been prosecuted in the past decade in which the federal government was the victim, but he expected that to change.

In the next couple of months, the DOJ will announce a task force on state and local conspiracies involving procurement fraud, said Delrahim.

Companies that come forward to report bid-rigging in procurement will pay lower damages and criminal fines, he added.