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MASSACHUSETTS COMPANY CHARGED

WASHINGTON, D.C.-The Department of Justice today charged a North Billerica, Massachusetts tile company with participating in a conspiracy to rig bids for the sale of tactile tile to the Long Island Railroad, located in New York.

In a one-count felony charge, filed in U.S. District Court in Concord, New Hampshire, ADA Fabricators Inc., which does business as AMS Tactile Systems, was charged with participating in a scheme with unnamed co-conspirators to submit collusive, noncompetitive, and rigged bids for the sale of tactile tile from Spring of 1998 continuing through the Fall of 1998.

Tactile tile is a corrugated tile designed to warn visually impaired persons that they are approaching a dangerous area. It is typically sold to public transportation authorities or to contractors, and is typically installed along the edge of train platforms.

According to the charges, ADA Fabricators participated in the conspiracy by discussing the submission of prospective bids with unnamed co-conspirators, agreeing on which corporate co-conspirator would be the low responsive bidder, and submitting a collusive, noncompetitive and rigged bid to the railroad.

The maximum penalty for a corporation convicted of violating the Sherman Act is a fine of $10 million. The 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.

The investigation is being conducted by the Antitrust Division's New York Field Office and the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Bedford, New Hampshire Division.

Anyone with information concerning price fixing in the tactile tile industry or bid rigging or price fixing in other industries should contact the New York Office of the Antitrust Division at (212) 264-0383.

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