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DOJ and Postal Service Issue First $1 Million Whistleblower Reward in Auto Auction Case

By  |  January 29, 2026

The U.S. Justice Department’s Antitrust Division, working with the U.S. Postal Service, has made its first-ever whistleblower payout, awarding $1 million to a person whose tip uncovered a wide-ranging criminal scheme tied to a major online marketplace for used vehicles. The case, according to Newsweek, highlights a new push by federal authorities to financially reward individuals who come forward with information about antitrust violations and related fraud.

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    The whistleblower’s information led prosecutors to reach a deferred prosecution agreement with EBLOCK, an online used-car auction platform. Under that deal, the company avoids immediate criminal charges but must meet strict conditions, including paying a $3.28 million financial penalty. Federal officials said the payout marks the first reward issued under the Antitrust Division’s relatively new whistleblower program, which promises significant compensation when tips lead to criminal cases or monetary recoveries, per a Newsweek report.

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    Court filings show that EBLOCK purchased a rival auction business, referred to as Company A, in November 2020. After the acquisition, the company failed to quickly halt improper conduct that had already been taking place inside Company A. From late 2020 through early 2022, employees at Company A and another firm, known in court records as Company B, worked together to manipulate bidding on vehicles. According to Newsweek, they did this by secretly exchanging confidential bidding information and coordinating the maximum prices they would offer for certain cars, undermining fair competition.

    Read more: Perkins Coie Adds Former DOJ Antitrust Leader as Partner in Washington

    The filings further describe how Company A granted Company B special access to private bidding data belonging to other buyers and sellers. Prosecutors say the two groups also kept a shared list of vehicles they obtained through the scheme and then worked together to relist those cars while placing fake bids to artificially drive up prices for legitimate customers. Some of these bogus bids were created using software that falsely used the names of real auto dealerships, and related documents were transmitted through the U.S. Mail, making the conduct subject to federal jurisdiction, according to Newsweek.

    The bid-rigging conspiracy violated the Sherman Antitrust Act, a cornerstone of U.S. competition law. Justice Department officials said the whistleblower’s tip was crucial in unraveling what they described as a large-scale plot that distorted the used-car market and hurt consumers. The government estimates the scheme involved about $16 million in affected transactions, per a Newsweek account of the court documents.

    Along with paying the $3.28 million fine, EBLOCK has agreed to put compliance measures in place and continue cooperating with an ongoing federal investigation. Officials from the Justice Department, the FBI, and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service all emphasized that the $1 million reward, which came only months after the whistleblower program was launched, is meant to encourage more people to report corporate wrongdoing before it causes further harm, according to Newsweek.

    Source: Newsweek