Antitrust Lawyer Blog

On April 17, 2008, Charles J. Gillespie, a former executive of Italy based Manuli Rubbers Industries SpA, pled guilty to participating in a conspiracy to rig bids, fix prices, and allocate market shares of marine hose in the United States. Mr. Gillespie also agreed to serve 12 months and one day in jail and pay…

On April 16, 2008, Japan Airlines International Co. Ltd. (“JAL”) agreed to plead guilty and pay a criminal fine of $110 million for its role in a conspiracy to fix prices for international cargo shipments.JAL was accused of attempting to fix rates on international cargo shipments to and from the United States between April 2000…

On April 11, 2008, Aaron S. Weiner, of Aaron Weiner Construction Inc. (“AWC”), pled guilty for acting as a conduit for a million dollar kickback scheme to defraud the New York Presbyterian Hospital (“NYPH”). An owner of two construction companies located in New York paid Mr. Weiner to pose as a consultant as a means…

On April 9, 2008 Matthew W. Bittenbender, a U.S. Department of Defense (“DOD”) contractor pled guilty to conspiring to steal competitive information regarding the supply of fuel to DOD aircraft around the world. Aviation fuel is obtained by the DOD through the Defense Energy Support Center (“DESC”) which lets contracts for a variety of products.…

On April 1, 2008, the Montana Board of Realty Regulation repealed its rule disallowing real estate brokers to “solicit business by offering gifts, rebates, or promotional items.” In August 2007, the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division began an investigation of the Montana Board of Realty Regulation. In most states, real estate brokers are allowed to…

On March 31, 2008, William E. Kovacic assumed the role of Chairman at the Federal Trade Commission. Mr. Kovacic had served as a Commissioner since January 2006 before his nomination by President Bush and eventual confirmation by the Senate.Before joining the FTC, Mr. Kovacic was the E.K Gubin Professor of Government Contracts Law at The…

On March 26, 2008, Peck & Hale, LLC, a Long Island, NY defense firm, pled guilty to a two-count felony charge for rigging bids for U.S. Department of Defense (“DOD”) military restraints equipment contracts. This equipment is used to tie down and secure vehicles, aircraft, munitions, shipping containers, and other specialized military cargo requirements for…

On March 24, 2008, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) approved a proposed merger between XM Satellite Radio Holdings, Inc. (“XM”) and Sirius Satellite Radio, Inc. (“Sirius”), the only two satellite radio service providers in the United States. The DOJ stated despite a merger to monopoly that the merged companies would not increase prices to satellite…

On March 6, 2008, Alliance Mechanical, an Arizona commercial refrigeration company, and Kendall Pope, president and co-owner of the company, pleaded guilty for their role in a conspiracy to rig bids on contracts for the installation of commercial refrigeration equipment in Safeway Inc. grocery stores in the Phoenix metropolitan area.Alliance Mechanical and Mr. Pope pleaded…