On January 30, 2009, Peter Baci, a former executive at a freight service company, was sentenced to 48 months in jail and agreed to pay a criminal fine of $20,000. This sentence marks the longest jail sentence ever imposed for a single antitrust charge.
On January 29, 2009, Getinge AB (“Getinge”) settled charges with the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) in order for its $865 million acquisition of rival Datascope Corporation (“Datascope”) to proceed. The FTC believed that the proposed acquisition violated federal antitrust laws. Datascope is required to divest its endoscopic vessel harvesting (“EVH”) product line to an FTC approved buyer within 10 days of the acquisition date.
Continue reading " FTC INTERVENES IN GENTINGE’S $865 MILLION ACQUISITION OF RIVAL DATASCOPE " »
During the week of January 26, 2009, IBM Inc. (“IBM”) and Microsoft Corporation Inc. (“Microsoft”) were separately accused of “tying” or “bundling” their products, in effect abusing their market dominant position, a violation of Article 82 of the European Community Treaty.
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On January 23, 2009, Dow Chemical Company (“Dow”) settled charges with the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) in order for its $18.8 million acquisition of rival Rohm & Haas Company (“R&H”) to proceed. Dow agreed to sell a range of assets to an FTC approved buyer and put in place mechanisms to ensure Dow will not have access to competitively sensitive non-public information regarding any businesses the new buyer acquires from Rohm & Haas.
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On January 22, 2009, three air cargo airlines, LAN Cargo S.A. (“LAN”), a Chilean company, Aerolinhas Brasileiras S.A. (“ABSA”), a Brazilian company, and EL AL Israel Airlines Ltd. (“EL AL”), an Israeli company, each pled guilty for their role in a worldwide conspiracy to fix prices in the air cargo industry and agreed to pay criminal fines totaling $124.7 million. LAN, which owns a substantial portion of ABSA, agreed to pay a criminal fine of $109 million while EL AL agreed to pay a criminal fine of $15.7 million.
On January 15, 2009, Chang Suk (“C.S.”) Chung, former Vice President of Monitor Sales for LG Display Co. Ltd. (“LG”), Chieng-Hon Lin (“Frank”), former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer for Chunghwa Picture Tubes Ltd. (“Chunghwa”), Chih-Chun Liu (“C.C.”), former Vice President of LCD Sales for Chunghwa, and Hseuh-Lung Lee (“Brian”), former executive of Chunghwa, all pled guilty to their roles in a global conspiracy to fix prices in the sale of Thin Film Transistor-Liquid Crystal Display (“TFT-LCD”) panels. They also agreed to serve jail time and pay criminal fines.
On January 15, 2009, Ronald K. Johnston, a former employee of Home Depot, pled guilty to conspiring to commit wire fraud and for two counts of filing false tax returns in an attempt to defraud Home Depot.
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On January 15, 2009, Chang Suk (“C.S.”) Chung, former Vice President of Monitor Sales for LG Display Co. Ltd. (“LG”), Chieng-Hon Lin (“Frank”), former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer for Chunghwa Picture Tubes Ltd. (“Chunghwa”), Chih-Chun Liu (“C.C.”), former Vice President of LCD Sales for Chunghwa, and Hseuh-Lung Lee (“Brian”), former executive of Chunghwa, all pled guilty to their roles in a global conspiracy to fix prices in the sale of Thin Film Transistor-Liquid Crystal Display (“TFT-LCD”) panels. They also agreed to serve jail time and pay criminal fines.
On January 15, 2009, Ronald K. Johnston, a former employee of Home Depot, pled guilty to conspiring to commit wire fraud and for two counts of filing false tax returns in an attempt to defraud Home Depot.
Continue reading " ANOTHER HOME DEPOT EMPLOYEE PLEADS GUILTY IN CONSPIRACY TO DEFRAUD COMPANY " »
On January 14, 2009, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) filed a suit to block the proposed $540 million assets and interest acquisition of Pavestone Co. (“Pavestone”) by rival Oldcastle Architectural, Inc. (“Oldcastle”) because it would reduce competition in the manufacture and sale of drycast concrete hardscapes.
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On January 14, 2009, AT&T Inc. (“AT&T”) entered into a civil settlement worth $2 million with the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) to settle charges that AT&T was in contempt of a March 2008 consent decree AT&T entered into during its acquisition of Dobson Communications Corporation (“Dobson”).
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On January 14, 2009, AT&T Inc. (“AT&T”) entered into a civil settlement worth $2 million with the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) to settle charges that AT&T was in contempt of a March 2008 consent decree AT&T entered into during its acquisition of Dobson Communications Corporation (“Dobson”).
Continue reading " AT&T AGREES TO PAY $2 MILLION TO SETTLE WITH DOJ " »
