Yamato Global pays $2.3 million price-fixing fine

   Japanese freight forwarder Yamato Global Logistics Japan Co. Ltd. has agreed to plead guilty and pay a $2.3 million criminal fine for its role in a conspiracy to fix certain fees related to air cargo services from Japan to the United States, the U.S. Justice Department announced Wednesday.
   As a result of the department’s price-fixing investigation, 14 companies have either pleaded guilty or agreed to plead guilty and pay more than $100 million in criminal fines.
   According to the one-count felony charge filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, Yamato Global engaged in a conspiracy to fix and impose certain forwarding service fees, including fuel surcharges and various security fees, on shippers from about September 2002 until at least November 2007. 
  The Justice Department said the forwarder carried out the conspiracy by, among other things, agreeing during meetings and discussions with other forwarders to coordinate and impose certain service fees and charges on shippers.
  As part of the plea agreement, which is subject to court approval, Yamato Global agreed to cooperate with the department’s ongoing antitrust investigation.