U.S. Department of Justice
United States Attorney
Southern District of Florida
99 N.E. 4 Street,
(305)961-9001
December 26, 2007
NEWS RELEASE :
GERMAN
NATIONAL CHARGED WITH PARTICIPATING IN CONSPIRACY TO RIG BIDS,
FIX PRICES AND ALLOCATE MARKET SHARES FOR SALES OF MARINE HOSE
A German national
was indicted by a federal grand jury in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., for participating
in a conspiracy to rig bids, fix prices and allocate market shares for
sales of marine hose, in the United States and elsewhere, the Department
of Justice announced today. The indictment of Uwe Bangert, a former
marine hose executive, was returned on July 19, 2007, and unsealed today
in U.S. District Court in Fort Lauderdale.
Marine hose is
a flexible rubber hose used to transfer oil between tankers and storage
facilities. During the conspiracy, hundreds of millions of dollars worth
of marine hose and related products were affected by the cartel worldwide.
The victims of this conspiracy include companies involved in the off-shore
extraction and/or transportation of petroleum products and the U.S.
Department of Defense.
These continuing
prosecutions in the marine hose conspiracy exemplify the Division's
resolve to hold accountable conspirators who seek to harm U.S. consumers,"
said Thomas O. Barnett, Assistant Attorney General in charge of the
Department's Antitrust Division.
Bangert is charged
with participating in the conspiracy from at least as early as December
2000 until at least July 31, 2002. The Department charged that during
the conspiracy Bangert and his co-conspirators:
-
Attended
meetings and engaged in discussions in the United States and elsewhere
by telephone, facsimile and electronic mail regarding the sale of
marine hose;
-
Agreed
during those meetings and discussions to allocate shares of the marine
hose market among the conspirators;
-
Agreed
during those meetings and discussions to a price list for marine hose
in order to implement and monitor the conspiracy;
-
Agreed
during those meetings and discussions not to compete for one another's
customers either by not submitting prices or bids to certain customers
or by submitting intentionally high prices or bids to certain customers;
-
Submitted
bids in accordance with the agreements reached;
-
Provided
information received from customers in the U.S. and elsewhere about
upcoming marine hose jobs to a co-conspirator who was not an employee
of any of the marine hose manufacturers, but served as the coordinator
of the conspiracy and acted as a clearinghouse for information to
be shared among the conspirators;
-
Sold
marine hose to customers in the U.S. and elsewhere pursuant to those
agreements at collusive and noncompetitive prices;
-
Accepted
payment for marine hose sold in the U.S. and elsewhere at collusive
and noncompetitive prices;
-
Authorized
or consented to the participation of subordinate employees in the
conspiracy; and/or
-
Concealed
the conspiracy and conspiratorial contacts through various means,
including code names and use of private e-email accounts and telephone
numbers.
Eight foreign executives
were arrested on May 2, 2007, in Houston and San Francisco and charged
for their roles in the marine hose cartel, following their participation
in a cartel meeting in Houston. On December 12, 2007 Bryan Allison and
David Brammar, executives with Dunlop Oil & Marine Ltd., a manufacturer
of marine hose located in Grimsby, United Kingdom, pled guilty to their
participation in the marine hose conspiracy. Under the terms of their
plea agreements, Allison agreed to serve 24 months in jail and Brammar
agreed to serve 20 months in jail. Peter Whittle, a former Dunlop employee
now working as an independent consultant, pleaded guilty for his leadership
role in the conspiracy and agreed to serve 30 months in prison. Under
the terms of the plea agreements, Allison, Brammar and Whittle were
returned in custody to the United Kingdom, where they were arrested
on December 18, 2007, and criminally charged with cartel offenses by
the U.K. authorities.
In November 2007,
Christian Caleca and Jacques Cognard, executives with Trelleborg Industrie
S.A.S., pleaded guilty to charges stemming from their roles in the conspiracy.
In December 2007, each was sentenced to serve 14 months in prison.
Francesco Scaglia
and Val M. Northcutt, executives with Manuli Rubber Industries SpA,
were indicted in September 2007 in U.S. District Court in Fort Lauderdale,
Fla., for their roles in the conspiracy. The case has been put on the
court's May 2008 trial docket.
Two other foreign
executives were arrested and charged in May 2007-Vanni Scodeggio, a
business unit manager at Parker ITR srl in Italy, and Misao Hioki, an
executive involved in the sale of marine hose for Bridgestone Corporation
in Japan.
The investigation
is being conducted by the Antitrust Division's National Criminal Enforcement
Section, the Defense Criminal Investigative Service of the Department
of Defense's Office of Inspector General, the U.S. Navy Criminal Investigative
Service, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Law enforcement agencies
from multiple foreign jurisdictions are investigating or assisting in
the ongoing matter.
Bangert is charged
with a violation of the Sherman Act, which carries a maximum sentence
of three years imprisonment and a fine of $350,000 for individuals charged
for violations occurring before June 22, 2004. For violations occurring
on or after that date, the maximum prison sentence is 10 years and the
maximum fine for individuals is $1 million. The maximum 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.
Anyone with information
concerning bid rigging or other anticompetitive conduct in the marine
hose industry is urged to call the National Criminal Enforcement Section
of the Antitrust Division at 202-307-6694, or the Long Beach Resident
Agency of the Defense Criminal Investigative Service at 562-256-2501.