Sometimes, fraud schemes involving Postal Service contractors aren’t open and shut cases. And sometimes, they come from unexpected places and require extensive collaboration with other law enforcement agencies to bring those perpetrating crimes to justice.
Our Office of Investigations recently closed a case that began in 2016, but the investigation didn’t begin with our office. It originated with the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Antitrust Division investigating a bid rigging scheme involving three companies in Statesville, North Carolina. The companies were allegedly working together to manipulate the winner of a bidding process for a contract with the North Carolina Department of Transportation (DOT). As a result of bid rigging, the purchaser, which depends on competition between the bidders to generate the lowest competitive price, receives instead a “lowest bid” that is higher than the competitive market would provide.