Law360 – Parallel civil and criminal investigations in federal procurement fraud cases appear to be on the rise, requiring contractors to carefully consider their responses to investigative demands.
While the coordination of parallel investigations has been a matter of public policy at least since the Clinton administration, attorneys report a significant increase in the practice over the past year. Rod Thomas of Wiley Rein says that the formerly typical practice—letting civil fraud investigations play out before looking into whether criminal charges are also warranted—has been in decline under recent administrations. Andy Liu of Nichols Liu cites the Yates Memo’s emphasis on pursuing individual accountability—not just corporate—as another factor behind the increase. The DOJ’s new Procurement Collusion Strike Force and Civil Cyber-Fraud Initiative also have objectives that dovetail with those of the Antitrust Division’s criminal prosecutors, Liu adds.
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