S.Korean firms to plead guilty to rigging U.S. military fuel bids (updated)

Hanjin Logistics

14/11/2018 19:10

(Adds details, background, quotes)
    WASHINGTON, Nov 14 (Reuters) - Three South Korean companies
will plead guilty to criminal charges and pay $82 million in
fines for their role in a long-running conspiracy to fix the
price of fuel sold to U.S. military bases in South Korea, the
Justice Department said on Wednesday.
    SK Energy Co Ltd, GS Caltex Corp, and Hanjin Transportation
Co Ltd  002320.KS  further agreed to pay $154 million to the
United States for civil antitrust and false claims related to
the bid-rigging conspiracy, the department said.
    Assistant Attorney General Makan Delrahim, the head of the
Justice Department's antitrust division, told reporters the case
against the three companies was part of a larger ongoing
investigation involving other co-conspirators. 
    The three "and other co-conspirators rigged bids and fixed
prices for fuel supply contracts issued by the U.S. military in
this strategically critical region for over a decade," Delrahim
said.
    "As a result of the anti-competitive agreement, the U.S.
Department of Defense paid substantially more for fuel supply
services than it would have absent the collusion," he added. 
    The Justice Department said the conspiracy began around
March 2005 and continued until 2016, with South Korean petroleum
and refinery companies and their agents working to suppress
competition during the bidding process for U.S. military fuel
contracts.
    
    

 (Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch; Writing by David Alexander;
Editing by Susan Heavey and Steve Orlofsky)
 ((David.Alexander@thomsonreuters.com;))