THREE former NYK and
"K" Line
executives who allegedly conspired to fixed prices on roll-on/roll-off cargo,
have been indicted by a grand jury in the District of Maryland, reports American
Shipper.
Toshiyuki Aoki, formerly of NYK and Masahiro
Kato and Shunichi Kusunose, formerly of "K" Line, have been
charged with allocating customers and routes, rigging bids and fixing prices
for the sale of international ocean shipments of ro-ro cargo to and from the United
States, including the Port of Baltimore, and elsewhere.
They are
among seven executives who have been charged in the investigation so far. Four have
pleaded guilty and been sentenced to prison. NYK, "K" Line and one
other company have also pleaded guilty and paid more than US$136 million in
criminal fines.
"The
companies and executives who conspired to restrict competition and raise prices
for shipping these products must be held accountable," said Bill Baer,
assistant attorney general of the antitrust division of US Department of
Justice.
"We
previously charged NYK and 'K' Line for their role in this long-running
conspiracy. Today we are continuing our effort to ensure that the executives at
those companies who orchestrated the ocean shipping conspiracy face the
consequences as well," he said.
The affected
cargo included cars, trucks, construction equipment and agricultural equipment.
Source :
HKSG.
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