Antitrust Lawyer Blog

On July 3, 2008, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) entered into a settlement agreement allowing Signature Flight Support Corporation to acquire Hawker Beechcraft’s (“Hawker”) fixed based operations (“FBO”). The settlement agreement requires Signature to divest its flight support service assets.Signature and Hawker are the only FBOs at Indianapolis International Airport (“IND”). The DOJ requires either…

On July 1, 2008, the Department of Justice’s (“DOJ”) Antitrust Division decided to allow External Compliance Officer Inc., a New Jersey based anti-money laundering consulting company, to create a database that would allow money transmitters to better understand the backgrounds of prospective agents. A money transmitter is a company that provides electronic money transfer services…

On July 1, 2008, Visa Inc. rescinded a rule that required merchants to treat Visa-branded debit cards differently when used as a PIN-debit card (and processed via non-Visa networks) from the same cards when used as signature debit cards and processed on the Visa network. The rule was rescinded in response to the Department of…

On June 30, 2008, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”), in a 4-0 vote, issued a complaint against the proposed acquisition of INEOS Group Limited (“INEOS”) by Carlyle Partners IV (“Carlyle”). INEOS is the third largest sodium silicate producer and seller in the highly concentrated Midwest region of the United States. PQ Corporation (“PQ”), owned by…

On June 30, 2008 Anthony M. Tesvich, a former employee of Home Depot, pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and three counts of tax evasion, in connection with a scheme to defraud Home Depot.According to the Department of Justice (“DOJ”), the conspiracy took place from October 2002 to October 2007.…

On June 30, 2008, Joel M. Gostomelsky, the director of the Hines, IL Department of Veteran Affairs (“VA”) Consolidated Mail Outpatient Pharmacy (“CMOP”) pled guilty to one count of conspiring to allow a subordinate to participate in decisions directly affecting the financial interests of the subordinate’s spouse and one count of accepting illegal gratuities. Between…

On June 26, 2008, five major international airlines including Socit Air France (Air France), Cathay Pacific Airways Limited (Cathay), Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij N.V. (KLM Royal Dutch Airlines), Martinair Holland N.V. (Martinair), and SAS Cargo Group A/S (SAS) pled guilty and agreed to pay fines for their role in a major international conspiracy to fix prices…

On June 24, 2008, John Cockerham, a U.S. Army office, and his wife, Melissa Cockerham, of San Antonio pled guilty to charges of conspiracies to commit bribery and money laundering. Mr. Cockerham pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit bribery and one count of money laundering. Mrs. Cockerham pled guilty to one count…

On June 20, 2008, the U.S. District Court in Charleston, WV, issued an opinion and order to allow the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) to proceed with a lawsuit against the Daily Gazette Company (“Daily”) and MediaNews Group Inc. (MediaNews). In May 2007, the DOJ filed a lawsuit against Daily and MediaNews challenging the combined…

On June 20, 2008, Charles N. Kriss, a former New York City Department of Citywide Administrative Services engineer, pled guilty to conspire to commit bribery in connection with a repair project to reconstruct Pier 86 where the Intrepid Sea, Air, and Space Museum is located. Mr. Kriss agreed to serve a sentence and pay a…