UK MARINE HOSE CARTEL EXECUTIVES RECEIVE REDUCED SENTENCES
On December 2, 2008, Peter Whittle, David Brammar and Bryan Allison all received reductions in their sentences to 3 months, 2 years, and 20 months respectively from the UK Court of Appeal.
On June 11, 2008, the three men pled guilty for running a cartel in UK’s first criminal prosecution for bid rigging. Mr. Allison and Mr. Whittle were both sentenced to three years in prison while Mr. Brammar received a two and a half year sentence. Mr. Allison also had to pay a fine of £25,000.
The Office of Fair Trade (“OFT”) accused the men of allocating markets and customers, restricting supplies, fixing prices and rigging bids for the supply of marine hose and related equipment in the UK. Marine hose is used by the oil and defense industries for transporting oil between tankers and storage facilities. The companies involved were Dunlop Marine Limited, Bridgestone Corporation, Yokohama Rubber Company Limited, Parker ITR S.R.L., Manuli Rubber Industries SPA and Trelleborg Industrie S.A.
The Court of Appeal reduced their sentences to match the sentence terms agreed by U.S. authorities. According to the Court, had the individuals not arranged such terms with U.S. authorities, their terms would have been reduced even more, citing the men’s good character and cooperation during the investigation. With this reduction, however, the former executives could be released from prison in the middle of 2009.
Camelia C. Mazard
202-589-1837
cmazard@dbmlawgroup.com
