The company's stock slipped 8% in after-hours trade following the report, which follows a series of problems at the insurer.
The announcement sent shares plunging nearly 18% to a four-year low.
In February, the Journal reported a civil fraud investigation into UnitedHealth's Medicare practices. The company had then said that it was unaware of any new probe.
A DOJ spokesperson declined to comment to the Journal about the fresh criminal probe. The UnitedHealth Group and the DOJ did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comments.
The DOJ, earlier this month, had filed a lawsuit accusing three of the largest U.S. health insurers of paying hundreds of millions of dollars in kickbacks to brokers in exchange for steering patients into the insurers' Medicare Advantage plans.
The insurers are paid a set rate for each patient, but can be paid more if patients have multiple health conditions.
Standard Medicare coverage is managed by the government.
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