The U.S. Department of Justice has its eye on the construction industry, which should be preparing for a surge in investigations and enforcement actions under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and False Claims Act.

Former federal prosecutors, criminal defense attorneys and construction and government contracts lawyers say the DOJ's recent actions, including a multimillion-dollar bribery case against the former execs of Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp., signal that the agency is aggressively expanding its FCPA and qui tam enforcement beyond the more traditional health care and pharma sectors.

The target-rich environment of the construction industry has become “the frontier right now on corruption and bribery and fraud enforcement,” said Atlanta-based Alston & Bird partner Paul Monnin, a former assistant U.S. attorney in Georgia who served as deputy chief of the economic crimes section.