Usually a whistle-blower is taking action against a large corporation, but in this case, the whistle-blower is Wal-Mart itself. Apparently Wal-Mart tipped off the UK's Office of Fair Trading that large manufacturers and large grocery stores might be involved in some sort of price fixing scam. Now these major companies, many of whom supply Wal-Mart, or are Wal-Mart's competition, are under investigation. By tipping the OFT off, Wal-Mart avoids a fine if any illicit activity is discovered. What a deal! Wal-Mart avoids a massive fine, and their competition is under investigation. The only negative side effect is that they've pissed off some of their suppliers (but what can they do, it's not as if they can stop selling to Wal-Mart). Imagine if whistle blowers were treated like this. Instead of getting fired, harassed, and losing their livelihoods, they would get a nice raise, a promotion, and maybe have to suffer a few glares from coworkers. Again, what a deal!

Here's the article from the Telegraph:

Wal-Mart was whistleblower in OFT's supermarket investigation

Wal-Mart, the world's biggest retailer, was the whistleblower behind the Office of Fair Trading's current probe into alleged price fixing of food and toiletries, The Sunday Telegraph can reveal.

The investigation has embroiled some of the world's largest consumer goods manufacturers such as Unilever, Procter & Gamble and Reckitt Benckiser, as well as UK retail giants, including Tesco and J Sainsbury.

In blowing the whistle, Wal-Mart, which owns the Asda chain, has guaranteed itself immunity from a fine should the OFT discover any cartel activity. Any company found guilty could be fined up to 10 per cent of its annual worldwide sales, which in Wal-Mart's case would be $37bn (£18.7bn).

The move is likely to make the US retailer deeply unpopular with the companies involved, many of whom are its largest suppliers.

Last weekend this newspaper revealed that around 100 OFT officials and lawyers raided the offices of the country's biggest supermarkets ten days ago over allegations of price-fixing involving dozens of popular household brands, such as PG Tips, Aquafresh toothpaste and Andrex toilet roll. Consumer goods companies in the UK and the US were also visited or asked to provide pricing information.

It is understood that following an earlier OFT investigation into price-fixing of dairy products, which resulted in some supermarkets and dairies paying fines of £116m, senior Wal-Mart and Asda executives made the decision to go to the OFT with new information.

All the companies involved in the probe have strenuously denied that they are involved in any cartel activity, and Asda's decision to tip off the OFT does not mean that price-fixing has necessarily occurred. The OFT has refused to comment on the investigation.

Legal experts believe it will be at least two years until the OFT publishes any findings.