Conspiracy Affected Global Cargo Shipments, Including at Port of Baltimore
The US Department of Justice announced that a Chilean corporation has agreed to plead guilty to pay an $8.9 million criminal fine for its 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 company engaged in a conspiracy to suppress and eliminate competition by allocating customers and routes, rigging bids and fixing prices for the sale of international ocean shipping services of roll-on, roll-off cargo to and from the United States and elsewhere, including the Port of Baltimore. The company participated in the conspiracy from at least January 2000 to September 2012. The company has also agreed to cooperate with the department’s ongoing antitrust investigation. The plea agreement is subject to court approval.
According to the charge, the company and its co-conspirators carried out the conspiracy by, among other things, agreeing – during meetings and communications – on prices, allocating customers, agreeing to refrain from bidding against one another and exchanging customer pricing information. The department said the companies then charged fees in accordance with those agreements for international ocean shipping services for certain roll-on, roll-off cargo to and from the United States and elsewhere at collusive and non-competitive prices.