The Justice Department confirmed its active investigation of potential antitrust violations in U.S. cattle and beef markets, reviewing more than 3 million documents and interviewing industry participants as federal officials scrutinize whether highly concentrated meatpacking power has contributed to high beef prices.
The four largest beef processors control more than 85% of the U.S. processing market — half of which are Brazilian-owned — Trump administration officials noted at a Monday news conference, where acting Attorney General Todd Blanche urged whistleblowers to capitalize on turning in bad actors who are contributing to jacking up meat prices on Americans.
"If the information you provide helps us secure a criminal penalty in excess of $1 million, you can be entitled to recover and receive 15-30% of the money that we recover," Blanche said, describing the DOJ fraud whistleblower rewards program. He urged ranchers, purchasers, processors and others to report possible price-fixing, bid-rigging, market allocation or procurement fraud.
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