Six Japan Forwarders to Pay $46.8M for Air Cargo Fee Price-Fixing
The Justice Department announced on September 28, 2011 that six Japanese freight forwarders have agreed to plead guilty and to pay criminal fines totaling $46.8 million for their roles in a conspiracy to fix certain fees in connection with the provision of freight forwarding services for air cargo shipments from Japan to the U.S.
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These are the second round of charges filed as a result of the department’s antitrust investigation of the freight forwarding industry.
Charged with Conspiring to Fix & Impose Fuel Surcharge & Security Fees
According to charges filed separately in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, six companies -- Kintetsu World Express Inc.; Hankyu Hanshin Express Co. Ltd.; Nippon Express Co. Ltd.; Nissin Corporation; Nishi-Nippon Railroad Co. Ltd.; and Vantec Corporation -- engaged in a conspiracy to fix and impose certain freight forwarding service fees, including fuel surcharges and various security fees, charged to customers for services provided in connection with air freight forwarding shipments of cargo shipped by air from Japan to the United States from about September 2002 until at least November 2007.
Companies Have Agreed to Pay $3M - $21M Each, Cooperate with Investigation
Under the plea agreements, which are subject to court approval, the six companies have agreed to pay the following criminal fines: Kintetsu World Express, $10,465,677; Hankyu Hanshin Express, $4,522,065; Nippon Express, $21,115,396; Nissin Corporation, $2,644,779; Nishi-Nippon Railroad, $4,673,114; and Vantec Corporation, $3,339,648. Each company has also agreed to cooperate with the department’s ongoing antitrust investigation.
(See ITT’s Online Archives 10100132 for summary of six other international freight forwarders that agreed to pay $50 million in fines for price-fixing.)