The Justice Department announced today that the Procurement Collusion Strike Force (PCSF) is adding 11 new national partners to the Strike Force, for a total of 29 agencies and offices committed on the national level to combatting collusion, antitrust crimes and related fraudulent schemes, which undermine competition in government procurement, grant and program funding.
Of the new partners, nine are U.S. Attorneys’ Offices, with complementary enforcement priorities in U.S. cities with diverse government spending profiles:
- David L. Anderson, Northern District of California
- Robert K. Hur, District of Maryland
- Erica H. MacDonald, District of Minnesota
- Michael Hurst, Jr., Southern District of Mississippi
- Seth D. DuCharme, Eastern District of New York
- Matthew G.T. Martin, Middle District of North Carolina
- Stephen Muldrow, District of Puerto Rico
- Stephen J. Cox, Eastern District of Texas
- Ryan Patrick, Southern District of Texas
The PCSF is also welcoming as national partners the United States Air Force Office of Special Investigations and Department of Homeland Security, Office of Inspector General, two critically important law enforcement partners with proven track records of working with the PCSF as well as the Antitrust Division.
“I am excited to welcome these new partners to the PCSF effort,” Assistant Attorney General Makan Delrahim of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division said announcing the new partners in Washington, D.C. “By growing our national footprint, and folding in additional subject-matter experts, the PCSF is poised for even more success in its next year.”
“DHS OIG is pleased to join our law enforcement partners on the PCSF,” said Inspector General Joseph V. Cuffari of the Department of Homeland Security. “We look forward to working with the Strike Force to combat antitrust crimes and related schemes on behalf of American taxpayers.”
“OSI, led by our Office of Procurement Fraud Investigations team, is pleased to be a full national partner in the PCSF effort,” said Brigadier General Terry L. Bullard, Commander, Air Force OSI. “We are committed to the principles of the PCSF in ensuring we educate and inform our stakeholders to deter bad actors, and in investigating crimes when they do occur. We look forward to furthering this project together with the Department of Justice and sister agencies.”
In remarks delivered to the American Bar Association, Antitrust Section’s Fall Forum, Assistant Attorney General Delrahim also provided recap of the PCSF’s first year of accomplishments, which are detailed in a recent post to the department’s “Justice Blog.”
The PCSF has a publicly available website at www.Justice.gov/Procurement-Collusion-Strike-Force, where members of the public can review information about the federal antitrust laws and training programs, and report suspected criminal activity affecting public procurement. Individuals and companies are encouraged to contact the PCSF if they have information concerning anticompetitive conduct involving federal taxpayer dollars by emailing [email protected] or filling out the PCSF anonymous complaint form, located on the PCSF website.
Federal, state, and local agencies can also contact the PCSF at [email protected] for any training needs or to report suspected antitrust violations.
Official news published at https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-s-procurement-collusion-strike-force-announces-eleven-new-national
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originally published at Law - NORLY NEWS