Aba Public Contract Law Section

[10] Press release, U.S. Depât Justice, Insulation Contracting Firm and Co-Owners Pleads Guilty to Antitrust and Fraud Allegations (February 3, 2020), www.justice.gov/opa/pr/insulation-contracting-firm-and-co-owner-plead-guilty-antitrust-and-fraud-charges. The WPCP is the Department of Justice`s coordinated national response to public procurement collusion. It is an inter-agency partnership dedicated to deterring, detecting, investigating and prosecuting cartel crimes and related systems targeting public procurement, grants and program funding at all levels of government – federal, state and local. Key partners include: the Antitrust Division, several U.S. law firms located in strategically important locations, and national law enforcement partners. And we are well suited to the current global environment because the WPCP is a virtual strike force that mobilizes resources in a district-based PR and training model and conducts joint and ultimately law enforcement investigations. We have 22 districts that are staffed both locally and remotely, and with divisional litigators, AUSAs and officers from our national law enforcement partners. Given the importance of competition in government procurement and the mission of the CWSP, I would now like to discuss our enforcement priorities and how the FSCP – through its members in the Antitrust Division, twenty-two U.S. attorneys` offices, and the seven national law enforcement agencies – has coped with this task in the first two years. Our ongoing research ranges from local, inter-district behaviors related to a single offering to multi-district, national, or even international behaviors targeting a dozen or more agencies, and multi-million dollar contracts – roughly in the nine-figure range. I am limited in what I can say about our ongoing investigations, but I can speak to what has been made public so far in pcSF and the Cartel Division`s illustrative investigations – the prosecution cases – to demonstrate our approach and priorities for law enforcement.

To name just a few figures, in fiscal year 2019, the federal government spent more than $586 billion, or about 40% of all discretionary spending, on contracts for goods and services. And that figure represents only direct federal spending. That doesn`t include federal funds that go to the state and local levels — where those funds build infrastructure such as roads, bridges, airports, public schools, public transit, water treatment plants, and pipes, to name a few. When we take into account the additional funding of the CARES Act to address the COVID-19 public health crisis and support the economic recovery, the numbers increase. In particular, grant funding has increased exponentially due to the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as increased government spending on goods and services. These figures provide a perspective on the importance of public funds at all levels and for the national economy. The second objective is to facilitate more effective detection, investigation and prosecution of conduct that undermines or distorts competition in the procurement process. When collusion affects government procurement, it corrupts the integrity of the process by which the government purchases goods and services, and the costs are borne by U.S. taxpayers. [5] See press release, U.S. Depât Justice, Commercial Flooring Company pleads guilty to antitrust and money laundering charges (August 30, 2021), www.justice.gov/opa/pr/commercial-flooring-company-pleads-guilty-antitrust-and-money-laundering-charges; Press release, U.S.

Depât Justice, former vice president of the commercial flooring company, accused of bid manipulation (April 3, 2019), www.justice.gov/opa/pr/former-vice-president-commercial-flooring-contractor-charged-bid-rigging; Press Release, U.S. Depât Justice, Commercial Flooring Contractor agrees to plead guilty to providing manipulated (27. August 2020), www.justice.gov/opa/pr/commercial-flooring-contractor-agrees-plead-guilty-bid-rigging; Press release, U.S. Depât Justice, Commercial Flooring Contractor Agree to Plead Guilty (August 19, 2019), www.justice.gov/opa/pr/commercial-flooring-contractor-agrees-plead-guilty-antitrust-charge. The journal is currently edited by students from George Washington University School of Law, which emerged from an agreement that began in 1995 between the school and the American Bar Association. In addition, a group of editors from the Public Contract Law Section of the American Bar Association reviews submissions that are being considered for publication. .