By Robert Connolly ( July 16, 2018, 1:51 PM EDT) -- I have been advocating for a criminal antitrust whistleblower statute along the lines of the very successful U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission whistleblower legislation.[1] While an antitrust whistleblower statute would be a positive game changer, in limited circumstances, namely government contracts, there is already an avenue for a whistleblower to report collusion on government contracts and receive an award if the government recovers damages. Whistleblowers (also known as relators) can file qui tam suits alleging that the government has been defrauded by collusive bidding on a contract. If the government receives damages as a result of the suit, the whistleblower is entitled to an award of between 15 and 30 percent of the recovery. The whistleblower can also recover attorney fees and the costs of bringing the suit. There are, however, relatively few government contract collusion whistleblowers. This article explains how the U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division could encourage more whistleblowing on government contract corruption and discusses some of the challenges faced by a bid-rigging whistleblower....