AN HEIR LOCATION COMPANY CHARGED IN CUSTOMER ALLOCATION SCHEME

FROM:  U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Wednesday, August 17, 2016

Heir Location Services Company and Co-Owner Charged with Customer Allocation Scheme

A Salt Lake City-based heir location services provider and its co-owner have been indicted for participating in a conspiracy to allocate customers with another heir location firm, the Department of Justice announced today.  

According to the one-count felony indictment filed today in the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah, Kemp & Associates Inc. and its co-owner and vice president, Daniel J. Mannix, conspired with a competitor to suppress and eliminate competition by agreeing to allocate customers of heir location services sold in the United States between 1999 and 2014.

Heir location firms identify people who may be entitled to an inheritance from the estate of someone who died without a will.  The heir location firms then enter into agreements with those people to help secure their inheritances in exchange for a fee.

“For over a decade, the defendants schemed to line their pockets at the expense of beneficiaries,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Renata Hesse of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division.  “These charges underscore the division’s commitment to hold heir location services executives and their companies accountable for cheating heirs whose relatives died without a will.”

With today’s charges, three executives and two companies have been charged as a result of the ongoing federal antitrust investigation into customer allocation, price fixing, bid rigging and other anticompetitive conduct in the heir location services industry, which is being conducted by the Antitrust Division’s Chicago Office and the FBI’s Salt Lake City Division, with assistance from the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the District of Utah and the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Northern District of Illinois.

ANOTHER EXEC INDICTED FOR PRICE FIXING AND BID RIGGING RELATED TO OCEAN FREIGHT

FROM:  U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT 

Tuesday, June 7, 2016

Fourth Ocean Shipping Executive Indicted for Price Fixing and Bid Rigging

An ocean freight executive has been indicted for his participation in a long-running conspiracy to restrain trade in international ocean shipments of roll-on, roll-off cargo to and from the Port of Baltimore and elsewhere in the United States, the Department of Justice announced today.

A grand jury in the District of Maryland returned the indictment.  Mauricio Javier Garrido Garcia (Garrido), an executive of Compañia Sudamericana de Vapores S.A. (CSAV) and resident of Chile, is charged with allocating customers and routes, rigging bids and fixing prices for international ocean shipments of roll-on, roll-off cargo, including cars, trucks and construction and agriculture equipment.  Garrido is accused of participating in the conspiracy from as early as 2000 until at least September 2012.  An indictment is a formal charging document, and the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

Garrido is the eighth executive to be charged in the investigation to date.  Four individuals have already pleaded guilty and been sentenced to prison and three others have been indicted but remain fugitives from justice.  CSAV and two other companies have also pleaded guilty and paid over $136 million in criminal fines.

“This long-running conspiracy restrained trade in one of the main channels of international commerce – the oceans,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Renata B. Hesse, head of the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division.  “Today’s indictment further demonstrates the division’s commitment to holding accountable ocean-shipping executives who participated in this scheme.”

“These charges brought today, and for the prior seven executives charged, outline a deceptive scheme to destabilize competition in the marketplace,” said Special Agent in Charge Kevin Perkins of the FBI’s Baltimore Division.  “Those who engage in this type of criminal activity with the intent on corrupting our economy will be identified and brought to justice.  To ensure we don’t erode the public’s trust in the competitive bidding process, the FBI will continue to work with the Antitrust Division to ensure the integrity of competition across all industries.”

Today’s charge is the result of an ongoing federal antitrust investigation into price fixing, bid rigging and other anticompetitive conduct in the international roll-on, roll-off ocean shipping industry, which is being conducted by the Antitrust Division’s Washington Criminal I Section and the FBI’s Baltimore Division, with assistance from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Office of Internal Affairs, Washington Field Office/Special Investigations Unit.

FORMER EXEC AT CDT MANUFACTURING COMPANY PLEADS GUILTY FOR ROLE IN PRICE FIXING CONSPIRACY

FROM:  U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT 

Wednesday, November 18, 2015

Former Sales Executive Pleads Guilty to Participation in Color Display Tube Conspiracy

A former executive of a large Taiwan-based color display tube (CDT) manufacturing company pleaded guilty late yesterday for his participation in a global conspiracy to fix prices of CDTs, a type of cathode ray tube (CRT) used in computer monitors and other specialized applications.

Chun-Cheng (Alex) Yeh, a resident of Taiwan, agreed to plead guilty to conspiring to fix prices, reduce output and allocate market shares of CDTs beginning as early as May 1999 until at least March 2005.  Yeh was indicted by a federal grand jury in the Northern District of California on March 30, 2010.  The plea agreement is subject to court approval.

“Our pursuit of those whose anticompetitive conduct abroad harms U.S. consumers does not stop with indictment,” said Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brent Snyder of the Antitrust Division’s Criminal Enforcement Program.  “We will use all of the tools available to us to ensure that those whose conduct results in criminal charges will be brought to justice should they choose to become fugitives.”

According to the indictment, Yeh, a former director of sales, and co-conspirators agreed to fix CDT prices and reduce output by shutting down CDT production lines for periods of time.  Yeh and co-conspirators also agreed to allocate shares for the CDT market overall and for certain customers.  The conspirators exchanged sales, production, market share and pricing information for the purposes of implementing, monitoring and enforcing their agreements.

Yeh is the first individual to plead guilty in connection with the CDT investigation.  On May 17, 2011, Samsung SDI Company Ltd. pleaded guilty and paid a $32 million criminal fine for its role in the CDT conspiracy.  Four other indicted individuals remain fugitives.  On Aug. 18, 2009, Wen Jun (Tony) Cheng was indicted for his participation in the CDT conspiracy.  On Nov. 9, 2010, Seung-Kyu (Simon) Lee, Yeong-Ug (Albert) Yang and Jae-Sik (J.S.) Kim were also indicted for their participation in the CDT conspiracy.

Yeh is charged with violating the Sherman Act, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $1 million fine for individuals.  The maximum fine may be increased to twice the gain derived from the crime or twice the loss suffered by the victims if either amount is greater than the maximum fine.

The federal antitrust investigation into price fixing and other anticompetitive conduct in the CRT industry is being conducted by the Antitrust Division’s San Francisco Office and the FBI’s San Francisco Field Office.

EXECUTIVE PLEADS GUILTY TO BID RIGGING AUTO PARTS, RECEIVES 13 MONTHS IN JAIL

FROM:  U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT

Thursday, July 31, 2014

G.S. Electech Inc. Executive Pleads Guilty to Bid Rigging and Price Fixing on Automobile Parts Installed in U.S. Cars

Executive Sentenced to Serve 13 Months in Jail

An executive of Japanese auto parts maker G.S. Electech Inc. pleaded guilty and was sentenced today to serve 13 months in a U.S. prison for his role in an international conspiracy to rig bids and fix prices on auto parts used on antilock brake systems installed in U.S. cars, the Department of Justice announced.

Shingo Okuda, the former Engineering and Sales Division Manager for G.S. Electech, pleaded guilty today in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky in Covington, to a one count charge of bid rigging and price fixing.

As part of his plea agreement, Okuda also agreed to cooperate with the department’s ongoing investigation and to pay a $20,000 criminal fine.

On Sept. 11, 2013, a federal grand jury in Covington, Kentucky, returned an indictment against Okuda, charging him with conspiring to rig bids and fix prices of speed sensor wire assemblies, which are installed in automobiles with an antilock brake system (ABS), sold to Toyota Motor Corp. and Toyota Motor Engineering and Manufacturing North America Inc., in the United States and elsewhere.

According to the indictment, Okuda and his co-conspirators carried out the conspiracy by, among other things, agreeing during meetings and discussions to coordinate bids and fix prices of automotive parts submitted to Toyota.   The indictment charged Okuda with participating in the conspiracy beginning at least as early as January 2003 until at least February 2010.

“Today’s guilty plea is a victory for consumers, who deserve to know that the essential parts used in their automobiles are not subject to anticompetitive agreements,” said Brent Snyder, Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Antitrust Division’s criminal enforcement program.   “The Antitrust Division remains committed to holding executives accountable for behavior that undermines the competitive marketplace.”

G.S. Electech manufactures, assembles and sells a variety of automotive electrical parts, including speed sensor wire assemblies.   The speed sensor wire assemblies connect a sensor on each wheel to the ABS to instruct it when to engage.   On May 16, 2012, G.S. Electech pleaded guilty to the conspiracy and agreed to pay a $2.75 million criminal fine.

Okuda is charged with price fixing in violation of the Sherman Act, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $1 million criminal fine for individuals.  The maximum fine for an individual may be increased to twice the gain derived from the crime or twice the loss suffered by the victims of the crime, if either of those amounts is greater than the statutory maximum fine.

Including Okuda, 36 individuals have been charged in the department’s ongoing investigation into price fixing and bid rigging in the auto parts industry.   Okuda is the first individual in the investigation to plead guilty following an indictment.   Additionally, 27 companies have pleaded guilty or agreed to plead guilty and have agreed to pay a total of nearly $2.3 billion in fines.

FORMER MARINE HOSE EXECUTIVE PLEADS GUILTY FOR ROLE IN WORLDWIDE BID-RIGGING CONSPIRACY

FROM:  U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT 

FORMER MARINE HOSE EXECUTIVE WHO WAS EXTRADITED TO UNITED

STATES PLEADS GUILTY FOR PARTICIPATING IN WORLDWIDE BID-RIGGING CONSPIRACY

Court Sentences Executive to Serve Two Years in Prison

WASHINGTON — A former executive of a rubber hose manufacturer, who was extradited from Germany in early April 2014, today pleaded guilty and was sentenced to serve two years in prison for participating in a conspiracy to rig bids, fix prices and allocate market shares of marine hose sold in the United States and elsewhere, the Department of Justice announced.

Romano Pisciotti, an Italian national and a former manager of Parker ITR Srl’s Oil & Gas Business Unit, pleaded guilty in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida in Ft. Lauderdale, to a one-count felony indictment that was filed under seal on Aug. 26, 2010, and unsealed on Aug. 5, 2013.

Pisciotti was extradited from Germany on April 3, 2014, in the first successfully litigated extradition on an antitrust charge.  Pisciotti was arrested in Germany on June 17, 2013, and made his initial appearance in U.S. District court on April 4, 2014.  Pisciotti will serve a total of two years in prison with credit for the nine months and 16 days he was held in the custody of the German government pending his extradition.  He has also agreed to pay a $50,000 criminal fine.

“Today’s guilty plea demonstrates the Antitrust Division’s ability to bring to justice those who violate antitrust laws, even when they attempt to avoid prosecution by remaining in foreign jurisdictions,” said Assistant Attorney General Bill Baer in charge of the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division.  “The Antitrust Division and its law enforcement partners will continue to protect consumers from cartels that affect the domestic and international economy.”

Marine hose is a flexible rubber hose used to transfer oil between tankers and storage facilities.  During the conspiracy, the cartel affected prices for hundreds of millions of dollars in sales of marine hose and related products sold worldwide.

According to the indictment, Pisciotti carried out the conspiracy by agreeing during meetings, conversations and communications to allocate shares of the marine hose market among the conspirators; use a price list for marine hose in order to implement the conspiracy; and not compete for customers with other marine hose sellers either by not submitting prices or bids or by submitting intentionally high prices or bids, all in accordance with the agreements reached among the conspiring companies.  As part of the conspiracy, Pisciotti and his conspirators provided information received from customers in the United States and elsewhere about upcoming marine hose jobs to another co-conspirator who served as a coordinator of the conspiracy.  The coordinator acted as a clearinghouse for bidding information that was shared among the conspirators, and was paid by the manufacturers for coordinating the conspiracy.  Pisciotti recruited at least two individuals from other marine hose firms to participate in the conspiracy.  The department said the conspiracy began at least as early as 1999 and continued until at least May 2007.  Pisciotti was charged with participating in the conspiracy from at least as early as 1999 until at least November 2006.

As a result of the department’s ongoing marine hose investigation, five companies – Parker ITR; Bridgestone Corp. of Japan; Manuli SPa of Italy’s Florida subsidiary; Trelleborg of France; and Dunlop Marine and Oil Ltd., of the United Kingdom – and eight other individuals have pleaded guilty and have been sentenced to serve prison terms ranging from 12 months and one day to 30 months.  An additional individual was sentenced to serve six months home confinement.  Indicted fugitive Uwe Bangert, a German national formerly associated with Dunlop Marine and Oil Ltd., remains at large.

The investigation is being conducted by the Antitrust Division’s Washington Criminal I Section, the Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS) of the Department of Defense’s Office of Inspector General, the U.S. Navy Criminal Investigative Service and the FBI.  The U.S. Marshals Service and other law enforcement agencies from multiple foreign jurisdictions are also investigating or assisting in the ongoing matter. The Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida provided assistance.

2 SHIPPING COMPANIES TO PAY $3.4 MILLION TO SETTLE FIX FIXING GOVERNMENT CONTRACTS

FROM:  U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT 
Friday, March 7, 2014
Two Ocean Shipping Companies to Pay $3.4 Million to Settle Claims of Price Fixing Government Cargo Transportation Contracts

Sea Star Line LLC and Horizon Lines LLC have agreed to resolve allegations that they violated the False Claims Act by fixing the price of government cargo transportation contracts between the continental United States and Puerto Rico, the Department of Justice announced today.   Under the settlement agreements, Sea Star Line has agreed to pay $1.9 million, and Horizon Lines has agreed to pay $1.5 million.
“Today’s civil settlements demonstrate our continuing vigilance to ensure that those doing business with the government do not engage in anticompetitive conduct,” said Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Civil Division Stuart F. Delery.   “Government contractors who seek to profit at the expense of taxpayers will face serious consequences.”

The government alleged that former executives of the defendant ocean shippers used personal email accounts to communicate confidential bidding information, thereby enabling each of the shippers to know the transportation rates that its competitor intended to submit to federal agencies for specific routes.   This information allowed the shippers to allocate specific routes between themselves at predetermined rates.  Among the contracts affected were U.S. Postal Service contracts to transport mail and Department of Agriculture contracts to ship food.   Both Sea Star Line and Horizon Lines previously pleaded guilty, in related criminal proceedings, to anticompetitive conduct in violation of the Sherman Act.

“Postal Service contractors must understand and know that actions that undermine the contracting process, such as conspiring to suppress and eliminate competition, will not be tolerated and will be aggressively investigated,” said Tom Frost, Special Agent in Charge of the Major Fraud Investigations Division (MFID) with the Postal Service Office of Inspector General.  “MFID will continue to work with DOJ, both criminally and civilly, to bring those individuals and companies to justice.”
The civil settlements resolve allegations in a lawsuit filed in federal court in Jacksonville, Fla., by former Sea Star Line executive William B. Stallings.   The lawsuit was filed under the qui tam, or whistleblower, provisions of the False Claims Act, which permit private individuals to sue on behalf of the government for false claims and to share in any recovery.   The Act also allows the government to intervene and take over the action, as it did in this case.   Stallings will receive $512,719 of the recovered funds.

The settlements were the result of a coordinated effort by the Civil Division of the Department of Justice and the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General.    

The case is captioned United States ex rel. Stallings v. Sea Star Line LLC, et al., Case No. 3:13-cv-152-J-12JBT (M.D. Fla.).   The claims resolved by the settlements are allegations only, except to the extent the conduct was admitted as part of the defendants’ prior guilty pleas, and there has been no determination of liability.

FOUR HITACHI-LG DATA STORAGE INC. EXECUTIVES AGREED TO PRISON TIME FOR PRICE FIXING

The following excerpt is from the Department of Justice website:

December 13, 2011
“WASHINGTON — Three Korean Hitachi-LG Data Storage Inc. (HLDS) executives have agreed to plead guilty and to serve prison time in the United States for their participation in a series of conspiracies to rig bids and fix prices for the sale of optical disk drives, the Department of Justice announced today.

According to the felony charges filed today in U.S. District Court in San Francisco, Young Keun Park, Sang Hun Kim and Sik Hur, aka Daniel Hur, conspired with co-conspirators to suppress and eliminate competition by rigging bids for optical disk drives sold to Dell Inc. and Hewlett-Packard Company (HP) and/or fixing prices for optical disk drives sold to Microsoft Corporation.  The three HLDS executives participated in the conspiracies at various times between approximately November 2005 and September 2009.  Under the plea agreement, Park and Kim each have agreed to serve eight months in prison and Hur has agreed to serve seven months in prison.  Each has also agreed to pay a $25,000 criminal fine.  HLDS is a joint venture between Hitachi Ltd., a Japanese corporation, and LG Electronics Inc., a Republic of Korea corporation.

“Today’s plea agreements demonstrate the Antitrust Division’s continued commitment to protect competition in the high tech industry,” said Sharis A. Pozen, Acting Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division.  “The division will continue to pursue and prosecute those who participate in bid-rigging and price-fixing conspiracies that harm businesses and consumers in the optical disk drive industry.”

Optical disk drives are devices such as CD-ROM, CD-RW (ReWritable), DVD-ROM and DVD-RW (ReWritable) that use laser light or electromagnetic waves to read and/or write data and are often incorporated into personal computers and gaming consoles.
Under the plea agreements, which are subject to court approval, Park, Kim and Hur have also agreed to assist the government in its ongoing investigation into the optical disk drive industry.

According to the charges, from approximately November 2005 until September 2009, Park participated in the conspiracies as HLDS’s vice president and chief marketing officer in charge of optical disk drive sales.  The department said that Park had supervisory responsibility for HLDS’s Dell, Microsoft and HP accounts.  The department said that Kim participated in the conspiracies at various times as HLDS’s team leader in charge of the HP and Dell accounts and deputy chief marketing officer from approximately November 2005 until September 2009.  According to the charges, Hur participated in HP-related conspiracies at various times as HLDS’s team leader, account leader and account manager in charge of the HP account from approximately November 2005 until June 2009.

According to the court documents, Dell hosted optical disk drive procurement events in which bidders would be awarded varying amounts of optical disk drive supply depending on where their pricing ranked.  From approximately February 2009 to September 2009, Park and Kim participated in a series of conspiracies involving meetings and conversations with co-conspirators to discuss bidding strategies and prices of optical disk drives.  As part of the conspiracies, Park, Kim and co-conspirators submitted bids at collusive and noncompetitive prices and exchanged information on sales, market share and the pricing of optical disk drives to monitor and enforce adherence to the agreements.
The department said that from approximately June 2007 to March 2008, Park and co-conspirators participated in a conspiracy involving meetings and conversations in Taiwan and the Republic of Korea to discuss and to fix the prices of optical disk drives sold to Microsoft.  As part of the conspiracy, Park and co-conspirators also exchanged information on the sales of optical disk drives to monitor and enforce adherence to the agreed-upon prices.

According to the court documents, HP also hosted optical disk drive procurement events in which participants would be awarded varying amounts of optical disk drive supply depending on where their pricing ranked.  From approximately November 2005 to June 2009, Kim, Park, Hur and co-conspirators participated in a series of conspiracies involving meetings and discussions to predetermine bidding strategies and prices of optical disk drives, resulting in the submission of collusive and noncompetitive bids for HP’s procurement events.  Kim, Par, Hur and co-conspirators also exchanged information on sales, market share and the pricing of optical disk drives to monitor and enforce adherence to the agreements

This is the department’s second round of charges resulting from its ongoing investigation into the optical disk drive industry.  On Nov. 8, 2011, HLDS pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in San Francisco to 14 counts of violating the federal antitrust laws between approximately June 2004 and September 2009.  HLDS also pleaded guilty to one count of participating in a scheme to defraud in connection with an April 2009 procurement event.  On the same day, HLDS was sentenced to pay a $21.1 million criminal fine and has agreed to assist the department in its ongoing investigation into the optical disk drive industry.
Park, Kim and Hur are charged with multiple violations of the Sherman Act.  Each count carries a maximum fine of $1 million and up to 10 years in prison.  The maximum fine may be increased to twice the gain derived from the crime or twice the loss suffered by the victims of the crime, if either of those amounts is greater than the statutory maximum fine.

This case is part of an ongoing joint investigation of the Department of Justice Antitrust Division’s San Francisco Office and the FBI in San Francisco and Houston.”

PRESIDENT OF OCEAN FREIGHT COMPANY INDICTIED WHILE FIRM AGREES TO PAY $14.2 MILLION IN FINES

The following is an excerpt from the Department of Justice website:

“WASHINGTON — Sea Star Line LLC has agreed today to plead guilty and to pay a $14.2 million criminal fine for its role in a conspiracy to fix prices in the coastal water freight transportation industry, the Department of Justice announced. Additionally, a federal grand jury in San Juan, Puerto Rico, returned an indictment against Frank Peake, the former president of Sea Star Line, for his role in the same conspiracy.
According to a one-count felony charge filed today in U.S. District Court for the District of Puerto Rico, Sea Star Line, whose principal place of business is in Jacksonville, Fla., engaged in a conspiracy to fix rates and surcharges for water transportation of freight between the continental United States and Puerto Rico from as early as May 2002, until at least April 2008. According to a one-count indictment filed today in the same district, Peake participated in the conspiracy from at least as early as late 2005, until at least April 2008.
Sea Star Line transports a variety of cargo shipments, such as heavy equipment, perishable food items, medicines and consumer goods, on scheduled ocean voyages between the continental United States and Puerto Rico.
According to the court documents, Sea Star Line, Peake and co-conspirators carried out the conspiracy by agreeing during meetings and communications to allocate customers of Puerto Rico freight services and to rig bids and fix the rates and surcharges to be charged to purchasers of water transportation of freight between the continental United States and Puerto Rico. The department said that Sea Star Line, Peake and co-conspirators also engaged in meetings for the purpose of monitoring and enforcing adherence to the agreed-upon rates and sold Puerto Rico freight services at collusive and noncompetitive rates.
In addition to today’s charges, as a result of this investigation, on April 30, 2011, Horizon Lines LLC was sentenced to pay a $15 million criminal fine, and five former shipping executives from both Sea Star Line and Horizon Lines have been sentenced to pay a total of nearly $85,000 in criminal fines and to serve more than 11 years in prison, collectively.
Sea Star Line and Peake are charged with price fixing in violation of the Sherman Act, which carries a maximum fine of $100 million for corporations, and a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $1 million fine for individuals. The maximum fine may be increased to twice the gain derived from the crime or twice the loss suffered by the victims of the crime, if either of those amounts is greater than the statutory maximum fine.
Today’s charges arose from an ongoing federal antitrust investigation into price fixing, bid rigging and other anticompetitive conduct in the coastal water freight transportation industry, which is being conducted by the Antitrust Division’s National Criminal Enforcement Section; the Baltimore Resident Agency of the Department of Defense’s Office of the Inspector General, Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS); the Miami Field Office of the Department of Transportation’s Office of Inspector General; and the Jacksonville Field Office of the FBI."

JAPANESE COMPANY PLEADS GUILTY TO PRICE-FIXING

The following excerpt is from the Department of Justice website:

“WASHINGTON – A Japanese freight forwarder has agreed to plead guilty and to pay a $1.84 million criminal fine for its role in a conspiracy to fix certain fees in connection with the provision of freight forwarding services for air cargo shipments from Japan to the United States, the Department of Justice announced today.
According to a charge filed today in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, MOL Logistics (Japan) Co. Ltd. engaged in a conspiracy with others to fix and impose certain freight forwarding service fees, including fuel surcharges and various security fees, charged to customers for services provided in connection with air freight forwarding shipments of cargo shipped by air from Japan to the United States from about September 2002 until at least November 2007.
Under the plea agreement, which is subject to court approval, MOL Logistics has also agreed to cooperate with the department’s ongoing antitrust investigation.
The department said that MOL Logistics and its co-conspirators carried out the conspiracy by, among other things, agreeing during meetings and discussions to coordinate and impose certain freight forwarding service fees and charges on customers purchasing freight forwarding services for cargo shipped by air from Japan to the United States. As part of the conspiracy, MOL Logistics and its co-conspirators levied freight forwarding service fees in accordance with the agreements reached and engaged in meetings and discussions for the purpose of monitoring and enforcing adherence to the agreed-upon freight forwarding service fees.
Freight forwarders manage the domestic and international delivery of cargo for customers by receiving, packaging, preparing and warehousing cargo freight, arranging for cargo shipment through transportation providers such as air carriers, preparing shipment documentation, and providing related ancillary services.
MOL Logistics is charged with price fixing in violation of the Sherman Act, which carries a maximum $100 million fine for corporations. The maximum fine may be increased to twice the gain derived from the crime or twice the loss suffered by the victims of the crime, if either of those amounts is greater than the statutory maximum fine.
Including MOL Logistics, 13 companies have agreed to plead guilty and nearly $100 million in criminal fines have been obtained as a result of the Antitrust Division’s ongoing freight forwarding investigation. On Sept. 28, 2011, six companies – Kintetsu World Express Inc.; Hankyu Hanshin Express Co. Ltd.; Nippon Express Co. Ltd.; Nissin Corporation; Nishi-Nippon Railroad Co. Ltd.; and Vantec Corporation – agreed to plead guilty for their roles in a conspiracy to fix and impose certain freight forwarding service fees charged to customers for services provided in connection with air freight forwarding shipments of cargo shipped by air from Japan to the United States from about September 2002 until at least November 2007.
Today’s charge is the result of a joint investigation into the freight forwarding industry being conducted by the Antitrust Division’s National Criminal Enforcement Section, the FBI’s Washington Field Office and the Department of Commerce’s Office of Inspector General.”