Antitrust Law Daily Wrap Up, ANTITRUST NEWS: K-Line executive pleads guilty in car and truck shipping price-fixing case, (Jan 30, 2015)
Organizations Mentioned:Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha Ltd.
Hiroshige Tanioka, an executive of Japan-based Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha Ltd. (K-Line), has pleaded guilty for his role in a price-fixing and bid-rigging conspiracy for international ocean shipping services for roll-on, roll-off cargo, such as cars, trucks and construction equipment, the Department of Justice announced today.
Pursuant to the plea agreement, which was accepted by the federal district court in Baltimore, Tanioka—a former assistant manager, team leader and general manager in K-Line’s car carrier division—was sentenced to serve an 18-month prison term and pay a $20,000 criminal fine for his participation in the conspiracy during the period of 1998 to 2012.
The plea agreement is a 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 DOJ’s Antitrust Division, The 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.
Companies: Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha Ltd.
News: Antitrust AntitrustDivisionNews