The Justice Department has issued its first-ever $1 million whistleblower reward for information that cracked open a bid-rigging scheme in the used car auction industry, marking a milestone for the agency’s relatively new whistleblower program.
The reward stems from a case against EBLOCK Corporation, an online auction platform for used vehicles that found itself in legal hot water after acquiring a company already embroiled in antitrust violations. The whistleblower’s information led to EBLOCK resolving criminal antitrust and fraud charges through a deferred prosecution agreement that included a $3.28 million fine, according to Justice Department officials.
A Scheme That Drove Up Prices
The case revealed a sophisticated bid-rigging operation that continued for more than a year after EBLOCK’s acquisition of “Company A” in November 2020. Instead of cleaning house, EBLOCK allowed legacy employees to continue their conspiracy with “Company B” until February 2022, violating both the Sherman Act and wire fraud statutes.
“Whistleblowers serve as the Justice System’s greatest disinfectant against criminal antitrust conspiracies,” said Deputy Assistant Attorney General Omeed A. Assefi of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division in a statement.
What exactly were these companies doing? The scheme was elaborate: employees shared confidential bidding information between companies, rigged bids to manipulate prices, and even created fake “shill” bids using software that mimicked legitimate dealerships. The conspirators then split the profits from their manipulated auctions, sending documentation related to the scheme through U.S. Mail.
Chief Postal Inspector Gary Barksdale didn’t mince words about the postal angle: “In this case, the defendant used the U.S. Mail to send documentation related to the scheme; a scheme that valued illegal profits over protecting unsuspecting car buyers. The Postal Inspection Service does not tolerate this abuse of the U.S. Mail or its customers and will pursue these types of criminals wherever they are,” he explained.
New Program, Big Results
The whistleblower program itself is relatively fresh on the scene. Launched in 2025 through a partnership between the DOJ’s Antitrust Division, the U.S. Postal Service, and the Office of Inspector General, the initiative offers qualifying whistleblowers between 15 and 30 percent of criminal fines recovered in cases they help expose.
Acting Director of Criminal Enforcement Daniel Glad emphasized the program’s importance: “Today’s reward shows that the Antitrust Division leverages whistleblower reports to drive forward our investigations.” The million-dollar payout represents approximately 30% of the $3.28 million fine imposed on EBLOCK — the maximum percentage available under the program’s guidelines.
When the program launched in July 2025, DOJ Antitrust Division Assistant Attorney General Abigail Slater predicted it would create “a new pipeline of leads from individuals with firsthand knowledge of criminal antitrust and related offenses that will help us break down those walls of secrecy and hold violators accountable.” The EBLOCK case appears to validate that vision.
The FBI’s Criminal Division Acting Assistant Director Mark Remily underscored the broader significance: “Whistleblowers play a critical role in helping law enforcement to identify and investigate a wide variety of criminal activities.”
Beyond Car Auctions
While this first major reward involved the used car industry, the whistleblower program targets a much wider range of potential violations. It specifically focuses on criminal violations of Sherman Act sections 1, 2, or 3, along with related federal crimes, public procurement violations, or offenses affecting competition investigations.
Could this million-dollar reward open the floodgates? That’s certainly what antitrust enforcers are hoping. By demonstrating a willingness to pay substantial rewards, the Justice Department is sending a clear signal to potential whistleblowers across all industries that coming forward can be financially rewarding as well as ethically sound.
For companies engaged in price-fixing, bid-rigging, or market allocation schemes, the message is equally clear: your own employees might now have a million reasons to turn you in.
