“K” Line pleads guilty to fixing prices for roll-on, roll-off cargo

Department of Justice says Japanese carrier will pay $67.7 million for its role in price-fixing conspiracy.    “K” Line has agreed to plead guilty and to pay a $67.7 million criminal fine for its involvement in a conspiracy to fix prices for roll-on, roll-off cargo to and from the United States and elsewhere, the Department of Justice announced.
   According to a one-count felony charge filed Friday in U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland in Baltimore, “K” Line conspired to suppress and eliminate competition by allocating customers and routes, rigging bids and fixing prices for the sale of international ocean shipments of ro-ro cargo between “at least as early as February 1997 until at least September 2012.”
   “K” Line has agreed to cooperate with the ongoing antitrust investigation, and it said in a statement it “has taken steps to further strengthen its compliance and training programs to ensure compliance with all applicable laws and regulations.”
   Bill Baer, Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division, said, “Our efforts exposed a long-running global conspiracy that operated globally, affecting the shipping costs of staggering numbers of cars, into and out of the Port of Baltimore, and other ports in the United States and across the globe. Today’s announcement demonstrates our continuing resolve to bring the members of this conspiracy to justice.”
   He added, “We are continuing our efforts to ensure that both the corporations and individuals involved in this cartel are held accountable for their acts and the harm they inflicted on American consumers.”
   In its press release announcing the fine, “K” Line said that it will record a 7.023 billion yen ($64.2 million) loss in the second quarter of its current fiscal year.