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. ### 95-630