Did You Know Antitrust is a Crime?

Oh yes, Virginia, the Feds DO Put People in Jail For This

In preparing for my July 10th webinar on the commission lawsuits, I discovered that I had never actually written about the fact that antitrust is not just a civil liability issue. Sherman Anti-Trust Act is a criminal statute. The DOJ is not limited to doing investigations and seeking consent orders. The DOJ can in fact prosecute companies and individuals for a felony.

And it turns out that this is not an idle What If speculation. The DOJ has prosecuted and has sent people to jail for antitrust violations in recent years.

Is criminal prosecution likely in the current case against the real estate industry? I really doubt it because it seems so ridiculous. And yet, there are numerous recent cases of the DOJ doing precisely that: prosecuting businesspeople for antitrust violations, including jail time. Furthermore, recent developments have made such a prosecution slightly more likely than before.

So as unlikely as the scenario of criminal prosecution for the real estate antitrust issues might seem, it is worth at least looking at the criminal law angle so we can have an idea of what’s what.

Let’s do this.