ALJ Grants Bargaining Order Against Novelis Corporation

ALJ Grants Bargaining Order Against Novelis Corporation

OCEAN SHIPPING EXEC. PLEADS GUILTY TO PRICE FIXING, RECEIVES 18 MONTH PRISON SENTENCE

FROM:  U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT 

FRIDAY, JANUARY 30, 2015

OCEAN SHIPPING EXECUTIVE PLEADS GUILTY TO PRICE FIXING ON

OCEAN SHIPPING SERVICES FOR CARS AND TRUCKS

Executive Agrees to Serve 18 Months in U.S. Prison

WASHINGTON — An executive of Japan-based Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha Ltd. (K-Line) pleaded guilty today and was sentenced to 18 months in a U.S. prison for his involvement in a conspiracy to fix prices, allocate customers and rig bids of international ocean shipping services for roll-on, roll-off cargo, such as cars and trucks, to and from the United States and elsewhere, the Department of Justice announced today.

According to the one-count felony charge filed today in U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland in Baltimore, Hiroshige Tanioka, who was at various times an assistant manager, team leader and general manager in K-Line’s car carrier division, conspired to allocate customers and routes, rig bids and fix prices for the sale of international ocean shipments of roll-on, roll-off cargo to and from the United States and elsewhere, including the Port of Baltimore. Tanioka participated in the conspiracy from at least as early as April 1998 until at least April 2012.

Roll-on, roll-off cargo is non-containerized cargo that can be both rolled onto and off of an ocean-going vessel.  Examples of this cargo include new and used cars and trucks and construction and agricultural equipment.

“For more than a decade this conspiracy has raised the cost of importing cars and trucks into the United States,” said Assistant Attorney General Bill Baer for the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division.  “Today’s sentencing is a first step in our continuing efforts to ensure that the executives responsible for this misconduct are held accountable.”

Today’s sentence was the first to be imposed against an individual in the division’s ocean shipping investigation.  Previously, three corporations have agreed to plead guilty and to pay criminal fines totaling more than $136 million, including Tanioka’s employer K-Line, which was sentenced to pay a criminal fine of $67.7 million in November 2014.

Pursuant to the plea agreement, which was accepted by the court today, Tanioka was sentenced to serve an 18-month prison term and pay a $20,000 criminal fine for his participation in the conspiracy.  In addition, Tanioka has agreed to assist the department in its ongoing investigation into the ocean shipping industry.

Tanioka was charged with a violation of the Sherman Act, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a $1 million criminal fine for an individual.  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.

Today’s plea agreement is the result of an ongoing federal antitrust investigation into price fixing, bid rigging and other anticompetitive conduct in the international roll-on, roll-off ocean shipping industry, which is being conducted by the Antitrust Division’s Washington Criminal I Section and the FBI’s Baltimore Field Office, along with assistance from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Office of Internal Affairs, Washington Field Office/Special Investigations Unit.

FTC CHAIRWOMAN RAMIREZ MAKES STATEMENT ON DECEPTIVE ADVERTISING CASE AGAINST POM WONDERFUL

FROM:  U.S. FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION 

Statement by FTC Chairwoman Edith Ramirez on Appellate Ruling in the POM Wonderful Matter

Federal Trade Commission Chairwoman Edith Ramirez issued the following statement in response to a ruling today by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit regarding the FTC’s deceptive advertising case against POM Wonderful, its parent company, and its principals.

“Today’s decision by the D.C. Circuit is a victory for consumers.  It is in keeping with established law that advertisers who market products for serious health conditions must have rigorous science to back up those claims.  The court specifically recognized that this applies to food and dietary supplement marketers such as POM.  It also held that requiring a randomized, well-controlled human clinical study for future disease benefit claims is an appropriate remedy based on POM’s conduct.”

The D.C. Circuit affirmed a January 2014 FTC decision that the marketers of POM Wonderful 100% Pomegranate Juice and POMx supplements deceptively advertised that the products could treat, prevent, or reduce the risk of heart disease, prostate cancer, and erectile dysfunction, and were clinically proven to have such benefits.  The court did not uphold the FTC order requirement for two randomized well controlled human clinical trials by POM. However, the court did affirm the FTC’s order requiring POM to have at least one such study before making disease prevention or treatment claims and held out the possibility that two might be warranted in other cases.

POM Wonderful filed an appeal with the court in March 2014, challenging the Commission’s January 2014 decision and order, which found that the POM marketers had made deceptive claims in 36 advertisements and promotional materials for the pomegranate juice and supplements.  The Commission issued a final order requiring POM’s future disease treatment and prevention claims to be supported by at least two randomized well-controlled human clinical trials, and other health benefit claims to be supported by competent and reliable scientific evidence.

The Federal Trade Commission works for consumers to prevent fraudulent, deceptive, and unfair business practices and to provide information to help spot, stop, and avoid them.

ANTITRUST AT DOJ ANNOUNCES $1.861 BILLION IN CRIMINAL FINES AND PENALTIES COLLECTED

FROM:  U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT
ANTITRUST DIVISION ANNOUNCES FISCAL YEAR TOTAL IN CRIMINAL FINES COLLECTED

The Department of Justice collected $1.861 billion in criminal fines and penalties resulting from Antitrust Division prosecutions in the fiscal year that ended on Sept. 30, 2014. Contributing in part to one of the largest yearly collections for the division, five of the companies paid in full penalties that exceeded $100 million, including a $425 million criminal fine levied against Bridgestone Corp., the fourth-largest fine the Antitrust Division has ever obtained.  The second-largest fine collected was a $195 million criminal fine levied against Hitachi Automotive Systems Ltd.  The three additional companies that paid fines and penalties exceeding $100 million were Mitsubishi Electric Corp. with $190 million, Toyo Tire & Rubber Co. Ltd. with $120 million and JTEKT Corp. with $103.2 million. The collection total also includes penalties of more than $561 million received as a result of the division’s LIBOR investigation, which has been conducted in cooperation with the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. In addition, in the last fiscal year the division obtained jail terms for 21 individual defendants, with an average sentence of 26 months, the third-highest average ever.

“The size of these penalties is an unfortunate reminder of the powerful temptation to cheat the American consumer and profit from collusion,” said Assistant Attorney General Bill Baer for the Antitrust Division.  “We remain committed to ensuring that corporations and individuals who collude face serious consequences for their crimes.”