The purpose of this Primer is to provide federal law enforcement personnel with a quick overview of antitrust conspiracies that constitute felony violations of federal law. Specifically, the Antitrust Division wants to share with you the hallmarks of price-fixing, bid-rigging, and market allocation agreements and thereby dispel the commonly-held notion that such criminal antitrust
conspiracies can be proven only by sophisticated economic analysis.
Price fixing, bid rigging, and market allocation are economic crimes with potentially devastating effects on the U.S. economy. Such crimes rob purchasers, contribute to inflation, destroy public confidence in the economy, and undermine our system of free enterprise. To protect the U.S. economy by successfully detecting, investigating, and prosecuting these crimes, the Antitrust Division believes that it must engage the assistance and support of other federal law enforcement personnel. We hope this Primer will help you to understand, detect, and report antitrust violations.
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