FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                          AT
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 14, 1995                        (202) 616-2771
                                               TDD (202) 514-1888


   FORMER LONG ISLAND NEW YORK SUPPLIER OF DISPLAY MATERIALS TO
   CONNECTICUT LIQUOR COMPANY CHARGED IN BID RIGGING CONSPIRACY

     WASHINGTON, D.C. -- A Long Island New York executive agreed
to plead guilty today for involvement in a bid rigging conspiracy
involving contracts awarded by a Connecticut liquor company to
supply product advertising and display materials to retail
stores, said the Department of Justice.
     To date, nine individuals and two corporations have pleaded
guilty to various federal charges as a result of the Department's
ongoing antitrust investigation of bid rigging, commercial
bribery and tax related offenses in the display industry.
     The Department's case, filed in U.S. District Court in New
York City, charged Harvey Shayew, president of Harvey Shayew Inc.
of Bay Shore, New York, with rigging bids from 1989 until mid
1991.
     Shayew was charged with participating in a conspiracy to rig
bids and allocate contracts awarded by Heublein Inc. of
Farmington, Connecticut, to supply retail stores with display
stands, banners and counter cards.      
     The Department said Shayew conspired with unnamed 
co-conspirators to designate the low bidder on contracts and
arranged for the submission of higher noncompetitive price
quotations or bids from other suppliers.  
     In September, Richard Rituno and his company, Consumer
Displays Inc., pleaded guilty to an identical charge of bid
rigging involving contracts awarded by Heublein Inc.
     Anne K. Bingaman, Assistant Attorney General in charge of
the Antitrust Division, said the cases are part of the Department
of Justice's ongoing antitrust investigation of bid rigging,
commercial bribery and tax related offenses in the display
industry and is being conducted by the Antitrust Division's New
York Field Office with the assistance of the Federal Bureau of
Investigation and the Internal Revenue Service.
     The maximum penalty for an individual convicted of a
violation of the Sherman Act committed after November 16, 1990,
is three years in prison and a fine not to exceed the greatest of
$350,000, twice the pecuniary gain the individual derived from
the crime or twice the pecuniary loss caused to the victims of
the crime.
     Anyone with information concerning bid rigging, bribery or
fraud in the display industry may contact the New York Division
of the FBI at (212) 335-2700.
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