Former Hoegh Autoliners chief executive Ingar Skiaker has been indicted for his part in a ro-ro price fixing scandal in the US.
The indictment against him and fellow ex- Hoegh Autoliners executive, Oyvind Ervik, were unsealed in the US District Court in Baltimore, the US Department of Justice (DoJ) announced Wednesday.
The two men have been charged with participating in a long-running conspiracy to allocate certain customers and routes, rig bids, and fix prices for the sale of international ro-ro cargo to and from the US and elsewhere, including the Port of Baltimore. A federal grand jury returned the indictment in February 2018.
Including the charges announced today, 13 executives have been charged in the investigation to date. Four have pleaded guilty and been sentenced to serve prison terms. Others are said to remain “international fugitives”.
Including Hoegh, five companies have also pleaded guilty for their roles in this conspiracy, resulting in total collective criminal fines over $255m.
The indictment alleges that, from at least as early as 2006 and continuing at least until September 2012, Skiaker and Ervik conspired with their competitors to allocate certain customers and routes for the shipment of cars and trucks.
The defendants are said to have accomplished their scheme by, among other things, attending meetings during which they “agreed not to compete against each other”, and by refraining from “bidding or by agreeing on the prices they would bid” for certain customers and routes.
In addition, Skiaker and Ervik are alledged to have agreed with competitors to fix, stabilize, and maintain rates charged to customers, the DoJ said.
“The division’s investigation revealed that collusion was endemic and rampant in the shipping industry going back years,” said assistant attorney general Makan Delrahim of the DoJ’s antitrust division.
“The indictment unsealed today advances the division’s mission to restore and promote open competition. Hoegh has already pleaded guilty, and now we must ensure that its executives will be held accountable.”
“The schemes that took place in perpetuating this long-running conspiracy show a clear indifference for the free market, and a willful disregard for the law,” said special agent in charge Jennifer C Boone for the FBI Baltimore field office.
An indictment merely alleges that crimes have been committed, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
