METAL FLAKE FIRMS AND INDIVIDUALS CHARGED WITH PRICE FIXING

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The Department of Justice said a grand jury in U.S. District Court in Cleveland, Ohio, indicted two U.S. metal flake firms and three foreign citizens today for conspiring to fix prices of bronze and copper flake.

John W. Clark, acting Assistant Attorney General for the Antitrust Division, said the grand jury indicted Obron Atlantic Corporation of Painesville, Ohio; its former president, Carl F. Eckart; a member of its board, Bruno Dachlauer; and MD-Both Industries, a joint venture located in Ashland, Massachusetts; and a member of its executive committee, Paul J.E. Rink.

The indictment charged the defendants with engaging in a conspiracy to suppress competition by fixing prices of bronze and copper flake in the United States. Bronze flake, which is actually brass, and copper flake are used in the printing, paint, oil drilling and defense industries.

The indictment charged that the conspiracy, a violation of Section 1 of the Sherman Act, began at least as early as October 1986 and continued at least until November 1988.

Clark said Rink is a citizen and resident of England and Eckart and Dachlauer are citizens and residents of Germany.

The charge resulted from a grand jury investigation by the Antitrust Division's Great Lakes Office in Cleveland and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The maximum penalty for an individual convicted under the Sherman Act for a violation occurring before November 16, 1990, is three years in prison and a fine that is the greatest of $250,000, twice the pecuniary gain derived from the crime, or twice the pecuniary loss caused to the victims of the crime.

The maximum penalty for a corporation convicted under the Sherman Act for a violation occurring before November 16, 1990, is a fine that is the greatest of $1 million, twice the pecuniary gain derived from the crime, or twice the pecuniary loss caused to the victims of the crime.

The maximum penalty for an organization, not a corporation, convicted under the Sherman Act for a violation occurring after November 1, 1987, is a fine that is the greatest of $500,000, twice the pecuniary gain derived from the crime, or twice the pecuniary loss caused to the victims of the crime.

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