IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
v.
IAN P. NORRIS
Defendant.
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Criminal No.: 03-632
Filed: 9/24/2003
18 U.S.C. § 371;
18 U.S.C. § 1512(b)(1);
18 U.S.C. § 1512(b)(2)(B)
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INDICTMENT
COUNT ONE
The Grand Jury charges that:
1. Ian P. Norris is hereby indicted and made a defendant on the charges stated below.
During the period 1986 until January 1998, defendant Ian P. Norris was the Chairman of the
Carbon Division of The Morgan Crucible Company plc ("Morgan"), a company located and
headquartered in Windsor, England. During the period January 1998 until October 2002,
defendant Ian P. Norris was the Chief Executive Officer of Morgan.
2. From in or about April 1999 to the present, a federal grand jury sitting in the
Eastern District of Pennsylvania has been investigating, among other things, possible federal
antitrust offenses involving various types of carbon products manufactured and sold by Morgan
(hereinafter "carbon products") committed by the defendant and others. In or about April 1999
and August 2001, the federal grand jury issued subpoenas duces tecum to Morganite Industries,
Inc., a United States subsidiary of Morgan.
3. From in or about April 1999, and continuing thereafter until in or about
August 2001, the exact dates being unknown to the Grand Jury,
IAN P. NORRIS
knowingly and wilfully conspired and agreed with unnamed co-conspirators, both known and
unknown to the Grand Jury, to knowingly and wilfully commit offenses against the United
States, that is: (a) to corruptly persuade and attempt to corruptly persuade other persons known
to the Grand Jury with intent to influence their testimony in an official proceeding; and (b) to
corruptly persuade and attempt to corruptly persuade other persons known to the Grand Jury with
intent to cause or induce those other persons to alter, destroy, mutilate or conceal records and
documents with the intent to impair their availability for use in an official proceeding; that is, a
federal grand jury sitting in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, conducting a price-fixing
investigation of the carbon products industry, contrary to Title 18, United States Code, Section
1512(b)(1) and Section 1512(b)(2)(B), respectively.
I
MANNER AND MEANS OF THE CONSPIRACY
It was part of the conspiracy that:
4. Defendant and his co-conspirators interfered with and obstructed the
investigation being conducted by the United States Department of Justice, Antitrust Division,
through the federal grand jury sitting in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, in that the defendant
and his co-conspirators would provide false and fictitious relevant and material information to
both the federal grand jury and to the antitrust attorneys who were conducting the federal grand
jury investigation into the carbon products industry.
5. Defendant and his co-conspirators prepared a "script" containing false material
information which was to be followed by anyone questioned by either the Antitrust Division or
the federal grand jury.
6. Defendant and his co-conspirators contacted other persons who had information
relevant to the investigation being conducted by the Antitrust Division and the federal grand jury
and distributed the "script" to them with instructions to follow the "script" when answering
questions posed by either the Antitrust Division or the federal grand jury.
7. The conspirators removed, concealed or destroyed from their
business files any documents which contained evidence of an anticompetitive agreement or
reflected contacts between or among their competitors.
8. Defendant and his co-conspirators persuaded, directed and instructed other
persons to remove, conceal or destroy any documents which contained evidence of an
anticompetitive agreement or reflected contacts between or among their competitors.
II
OVERT ACTS
9. In furtherance of the conspiracy and to effect the objects of the conspiracy, the
following overt acts, among others, were committed:
(a) In or about April 1999, in response to the subpoena duces tecum served on
Morganite Industries, Inc., the defendant instructed and directed employees of Morgan
entities who were involved in the price-fixing agreement to remove and conceal or destroy
from their files any documents and records that contained evidence of Morgan's price-fixing agreement with its competitors or contacts between or among Morgan and its
competitors.
(b) In or about April 1999, the defendant asked a co-conspirator (CC-2) to
assemble a task force, the purpose of which was to search through Morgan's business files
and remove any documents that contained evidence of a price-fixing agreement between or
among Morgan and its competitors or reflected contacts between Morgan and its
competitors.
(c) In or about April 1999, CC-2 formed the task force consisting of three
Morgan employees (CC-3, CC-4 and CC-5) who were aware of and participated in the
price-fixing agreement and directed them to search Morgan's files in European locations
and remove and conceal or destroy any documents that contained evidence of Morgan's
price-fixing agreement with its competitors or contacts between or among Morgan and its
competitors.
(d) During the period beginning in or about April 1999 and continuing to in or
about June 1999, the task force formed by CC-2 visited Morgan's facilities in Europe and
removed and concealed or destroyed all of the documents and records from Morgan's files
that contained evidence of Morgan's price-fixing agreement with its competitors or
contacts between or among Morgan and its competitors. The members of the task force,
including CC-3, gave CC-4 collected documents which referred to the price-fixing
agreement so that CC-4 could conceal these documents from the United States and
European authorities but also so that the documents could be maintained in a concealed
location in order for Morgan to continue to monitor the price-fixing agreement.
(e) At a Technical Committee Meeting among the co-conspirators of the
price-fixing agreement, including CC-3, held in or about April 1999, CC-4 told those in
attendance that Morgan had formed a task force and had removed incriminating evidence
from its files. CC-4 suggested that all of the co-conspirators in the price-fixing agreement
should do the same.
(f) In or about May 1999, the defendant directed a co-conspirator (CC-1) to
instruct an employee of one of Morgan's United States subsidiaries to go through his
business files and remove and conceal or destroy any documents that contained evidence of
Morgan's price-fixing agreement with its competitors or referred to contacts between or
among Morgan and its competitors. In or about August 2001, the employee destroyed
documents relevant to the grand jury's investigation due to the instructions from CC-1.
(g) In or around November 1999, the defendant directed CC-3 and another
co-conspirator (CC-6) to review Morgan's business records, including expense records;
to identify the dates of and the persons in attendance at the price-fixing meetings Morgan
had with its competitors; and to turn that information over to the defendant.
(h) In or around November 1999, the defendant directed a co-conspirator
(CC-7) to create a timeline, based on the information collected by CC-3 and CC-6 and
referred to in Paragraph 9(g) above, that reflected all of the meetings Morgan had with its
co-conspirators in the price-fixing agreement.
(i) In or around November 1999, the defendant called several of the
co-conspirators, including, among others, CC-2, CC-6 and CC-7, to a meeting at Morgan's
headquarters in Windsor, England, to discuss the antitrust investigation being conducted in
the United States and how to deal with it. The meeting was carried out over a period of
several days.
(j) During the meeting described in Paragraph 9(i), the defendant and the co-
conspirators discussed possible justifications or legitimate explanations for Morgan's
meetings with its competitors. The defendant and the co-conspirators agreed that they
would falsely characterize their meetings with competitors as joint venture meetings rather
than truthfully describe them as price discussion meetings.
(k) During the meeting described in Paragraph 9(i), the defendant and the co-
conspirators agreed that they would prepare summaries of the meetings Morgan had with its
competitors; that the summaries would falsely characterize the meetings as joint venture
meetings; and that the summaries would purposely exclude mention of pricing discussions Morgan had with its competitors at those meetings (hereinafter referred to as the "script").
(l) During the meeting described in Paragraph 9(i), the defendant and the co-
conspirators agreed that they would each follow the script when they were questioned during
the course of the antitrust investigation and that the script contained the version of events
that all of the employees of Morgan entities who were involved in the price-fixing
conspiracy should follow when questioned during the investigation.
(m) During the meeting described in Paragraph 9(i), the defendant and the co-
conspirators designated CC-6 as the "scribe" whose purpose it was to create the master
version of the script.
(n) During the meeting described in Paragraph 9(i), the defendant and the co-
conspirators did in fact prepare a materially false and fictitious script that intentionally
omitted all references to pricing discussions that occurred at meetings held between and
among Morgan and its competitors. The materially false and fictitious script was distributed
to all of the price-fixing co-conspirators employed by Morgan entities.
(o) During the meeting described in Paragraph 9(i), CC-6 faxed a portion of
the script to a U.S. based employee (CC-8) of a Morgan entity, who was involved in the
price-fixing conspiracy but who was not present at the meeting, and asked CC-8 to approve
the contents of the materially false and fictitious script. Despite the fact that the script was
materially false and failed to include significant aspects of the pricing discussions held
between Morgan and its competitor, CC-8 informed CC-6 that the script was acceptable to
him as it comported with the defendant's description to him of the agreement reflected in
Paragraph 9(j) above.
(p) Sometime after January 2000, to prepare themselves for questioning during
the course of the investigation, the Morgan co-conspirators engaged in a "rehearsal" at
which they were questioned and cross-examined on their recollection of the materially false
and fictitious information contained in the script.
(q) Sometime during or soon after the "rehearsal" referred to in Paragraph 9(p)
above, the defendant expressed his concern that certain employees involved in meetings
with competitors would tell the truth to authorities. After discussing his concern with CC-2,
the defendant implemented a plan to separate those employees from the company before
they were questioned, either by placing them into retirement or making them consultants, so
that they could not be forced to testify in the investigation.
(r) Sometime after January 2000, the defendant asked CC-2 to prepare an early
retirement package for CC-3 because CC-3 had failed to withstand the questioning and
cross-examination of the " rehearsal" and needed to be removed from Morgan before he had
an opportunity to be questioned by authorities conducting the antitrust investigation.
(s) Sometime after January 2000, CC-3 retired from Morgan.
(t) In or around September 2000, CC-2 asked CC-6 to type a portion of the
handwritten script he prepared during the meeting described in Paragraph 9(i) above and to
fax the script to CC-2.
(u) In or around November 2000, CC-2 met with an individual (CW-1)
who was an executive of a company that had engaged in the price-fixing agreement with
Morgan.
(v) During the meeting described in Paragraph 9(u) above, CC-2 told CW-1,
among other things, that the United States was conducting an antitrust investigation into the
carbon brushes industry and that Morgan was having difficulty with the United States
investigation in that it found itself to be the focus of the investigation.
(w) During the meeting described in Paragraph 9(u) above, CC-2 told CW-1
that while Morgan told the authorities that its executives had been at meetings with its
competitors, Morgan also told the authorities that the meetings concerned general business
issues and that no pricing discussions were held during the course of the meetings. CC-2
further told CW-1 that he would send CW-1 a summary of what Morgan's executives had
told the authorities (the script).
(x) During the meeting described in Paragraph 9(u) above, CC-2 told CW-1
that he was certain that executives at CW-1's company who participated in the price-fixing
meetings would be interrogated by the United States because Morgan had disclosed their
names to the United States during the course of the investigation. CC-2 further told CW-1
that if the recollection of those who attended the meetings with Morgan was the same as or
close to the script, it would help convince the United States that Morgan's version of what
transpired at the meetings was truthful and would ultimately benefit both Morgan and the
company for which CW-1 worked.
(y) During the meeting described in Paragraph 9(u) above, CC-2 told CW-1 to
distribute the script to potential witnesses whom CC-2 identified as having attended and
participated in the price-fixing meetings and whose names Morgan had already disclosed to
the authorities; to treat the script confidentially; and to destroy the script after having read
and distributed it.
(z) Sometime in or around December 2000, CC-2 mailed or otherwise
delivered to CW-1 the materially false and fictitious script and caused CW-1 to mail or
otherwise deliver photocopies of the script to certain of CW-1's co-workers whom CC-2
identified as having participated in the price-fixing agreement and having attended price-fixing meetings with Morgan.
(aa) On or about February 26, 2001, the defendant and CC-2 met with CW-1 and
another individual at the Heathrow Airport. During the meeting the defendant discussed
with CW-1 the grand jury investigation being conducted by the Antitrust Division. The
defendant told CW-1 that Morgan had a problem in the United States and that they all
needed to be very careful.
(bb) At the meeting referred to in Paragraph 9(aa) above, the defendant told
CW-1 that CW-1 needed to make sure that his employees told the same story as Morgan
when they were questioned by the government authorities so that both Morgan and CW-1's
company could escape prosecution in the United States antitrust investigation. The
defendant told CW-1 that he knew CW-1's company was aware of the story Morgan had told
the authorities.
(cc) At the meeting referred to in Paragraph 9(aa) above, the defendant told
CW-1 that the only way for Morgan and CW-1's company to get out of the investigation was
if everyone who was questioned by the authorities gave the same testimony because by
doing so the authorities would be convinced that they and Morgan were telling the truth
about the meetings they had together. The defendant told CW-1 that there was a high
probability that the United States investigation would be closed if everyone's recollection of
the meetings was the same.
(dd) At the meeting referred to in Paragraph 9(aa) above, the defendant told
CW-1 that one way to handle the concern that employees involved in meetings with
competitors would tell the truth to authorities was to separate them from the company before
they were questioned, either by placing them into retirement or making them consultants, so
that they could not be forced to testify by their employer. The defendant told CW-1 that
Morgan had adopted this approach and suggested that CW-1 do the same.
(ee) At the meeting referred to in Paragraph 9(aa) above, the defendant told
CW-1 that it was important to keep the United States investigation from spilling over into
Europe; that there was a new generation of law administrators in Europe who had learnedmuch from the Americans and who would apply the same system of investigation in the carbon
brush industry as the United States; and that it was in their common interest to stop the investigation
before it reached Europe. The defendant told CW-1 that the only way to stop the investigation was
for everyone who was questioned by the authorities to give the same testimony.
ALL IN VIOLATION OF TITLE 18, UNITED STATES CODE, SECTION 371.
COUNT TWO
The Grand Jury further charges that:
10. Each and every allegation contained in Paragraphs 1, 2 and 9(g) through 9(ee) of
Count One of this Indictment are here realleged with the same full force and effect as though said
Paragraphs were set forth in full detail.
11. During the period in or around November 1999 until on or about
February 26, 2001, the exact dates being unknown to the Grand Jury, defendant,
IAN P. NORRIS
corruptly persuaded and attempted to corruptly persuade persons, whose identities are known to
the Grand Jury, with intent to influence their testimony in an official proceeding, that is the
federal grand jury sitting in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania investigating, among other things,
possible federal criminal antitrust violations occurring in the carbon products industry and
committed by the defendant and others.
IN VIOLATION OF TITLE 18, UNITED STATES CODE, SECTION 1512(b)(1).
COUNT THREE
The Grand Jury further charges:
12. Each and every allegation contained in Paragraphs 1, 2, 9(a) through 9(d) and 9(f)
of this Indictment are here realleged with the same full force and effect as though said Paragraphs
was set forth in full detail.
13. During the period in or about April 1999, until in or about August 2001, the exact
dates being unknown to the Grand Jury, defendant
IAN P. NORRIS
knowingly corruptly persuaded other persons, whose identities are known to the Grand Jury, with
intent to cause or induce those persons to alter, destroy, mutilate or conceal records and
documents, with intent to impair their availability for use in an official proceeding, that is the
federal grand jury sitting in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania investigating, among other things,
possible federal criminal antitrust violations occurring in the carbon products industry and
committed by the defendant and others.
IN VIOLATION OF TITLE 18 UNITED STATES CODE, SECTION 1512(b)(2)(B).
A TRUE BILL:
_______________/s/________________
FOREPERSON
_______________/s/________________
R. HEWITT PATE
Assistant Attorney General
_______________/s/________________
JAMES M. GRIFFIN
Deputy Assistant Attorney General
_______________/s/________________
SCOTT D. HAMMOND
Director of Criminal Enforcement
Antitrust Division
U.S. Department of Justice
_______________/s/________________
PATRICK L. MEEHAN
United States Attorney for the
Eastern District of Pennsylvania
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_______________/s/________________
ROBERT E. CONNOLLY
Chief, Philadelphia Office
_______________/s/________________
LUCY P. MCCLAIN
RICHARD S. ROSENBERG
Attorneys, Antitrust Division
U.S. Department of Justice
Philadelphia Office
The Curtis Center, Suite 650W
170 South Independence Mall West
Philadelphia, PA 19106
Tel.: (215) 597-7401
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