Airlines to pay $504M in price-fixing scam

I would have expected to see US air carriers among the criminals:



Airlines to pay $504M in price-fixing scam

Four airlines involved in one of the largest antitrust settlements in
history

updated 11:40 a.m. PT, Thurs., June. 26, 2008

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25394703/
WASHINGTON - Four international airlines have agreed to pay $504
million in fines to settle charges they conspired to fleece consumers
by driving up cargo shipping prices.

The Justice Department called the case one of the largest antitrust
settlements in U.S. history.

Associate Attorney General Kevin O'Connor called the scam an
"international price-fixing cartel" that cost consumers hundreds of
millions of dollars between 2001 and 2006. In some instances, for
example, fuel surcharges rose by 1,000 percent.

One of the four airlines — Air France-KLM — has agreed to pay $350
million of the total settlement. The other carriers are Cathay Pacific
Airways, Martinair Holland and SAS Cargo Group

"American consumers and taxpayers pour billions of dollars each year
into the pockets of these lawbreakers," said FBI Assistant Director
Joe Persichini. "Let there be no mistake that people in corporations
that take consumers and taxpayers in this way are thieves."

Authorities said executives from each of the airlines met repeatedly
in the United States, Europe and Asia to cook up a price-fixing scheme
that raised cargo rates, fuel surcharges and security costs for
businesses and, ultimately, consumers. The cartel focused on goods
shipped to and from the United States, including electronics,
clothing, produce and medicines, O'Connor said.

The settlement agreement, filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in
Washington, still requires a judge's approval.

Thursday's announcement marked the latest in a series of cargo
shipping settlements over the last two years. Earlier, British
Airways, Korean Air, Qantas and Japan Airlines filed similar
agreements as part of the investigation.

In all, airlines have agreed to pay $1.2 billion in fines — what
O'Connor called "the highest total amount of fines ever imposed in a
criminal antitrust investigation."

The investigation is continuing. ...