FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                          AT
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 1997                        (202) 616-2771
                                               TDD (202) 514-1888

         NEW YORK CITY MILITARY INSIGNIA COMPANY CHARGED
                        WITH PRICE FIXING


     WASHINGTON, D.C. -- A New York City military insignia vendor
was charged today by the Department of Justice with conspiring to
fix prices on sales of military insignia to the Army-Air Force
Exchange Service for resale to United States military personnel.

     In a one-count felony charge filed in U.S. District Court in
Philadelphia, the Department of Justice's Antitrust Division
charged N.S. Meyer Inc. with conspiring to fix prices from as
early as 1992 through 1995, on military insignia sold to the
Army-Air Force Exchange service for resale to U.S. military
personnel at military facilities throughout the United States and
abroad.

     Military insignia are accessories attached to a soldier's
uniform to designate branch of service, unit and rank, and also
to identify the wearer's years of service, campaigns served,
training completed and meritorious and heroic conduct performed. 

     According to the charge, N.S. Meyer, Inc. conspired with
others to suppress and eliminate competition for military
insignia contracts. N.S. Meyer carried out the conspiracy by
discussing with co-conspirators the prospective prices on
insignia contracts, agreeing among themselves to raise and 
exchange prospective prices for the contracts, and submitting
fixed prices.

     Joel I. Klein, Assistant Attorney General in charge of the
Antitrust Division, said the charge resulted from a federal grand
jury investigation of price fixing and related violations on
military insignia sales to the Department of Defense and related
agencies.

     The case was filed by the Antitrust Division's Philadelphia
Field Office with the assistance of the Federal Bureau of
Investigation, the Defense Criminal Investigative Service, the
investigative arm of the Department of Defense Inspector General,
and the Air Force Office of Special Investigations.

     The maximum penalty for a corporation convicted of a
violation of the Sherman Act committed after November 16, 1990,
is a fine of not more than the greatest of $10 million, twice the
gross pecuniary gain the defendant derived from the crime, or
twice the gross pecuniary loss caused to the victims of the
crime.

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