US: Extradited Air Cargo exec pleads guilty to global price-fixing

Maria Christina “Meta” Ullings, the former senior vice president of cargo sales and marketing for Martinair N.V. (Martinair Cargo) and a Dutch national, pleaded guilty for her role in a long-running air cargo price-fixing conspiracy, the Department of Justice announced. 

Ullings’ extradition is the second extradition on an antitrust charge.  A fugitive for almost 10 years, Ullings was apprehended by Italian authorities in July 2019 while visiting Sicily.  Ullings initially contested extradition in the Italian courts, but after the Court of Appeals of Palermo ruled that she be extradited, she waived her appeal.  She arrived in Atlanta on Jan. 10, 2020, and made her initial appearance on Jan. 13 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia.  Ullings was sentenced to 14 months in prison with credit for the time she was held in the custody of the Italian government pending her extradition.  She has also been sentenced to pay a $20,000 criminal fine.    

“Today’s guilty plea demonstrates the Antitrust Division’s commitment to bringing those who violate the antitrust laws – wherever located – to justice,” said Assistant Attorney General Makan Delrahim of the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division.  “The Antitrust Division and its partners are committed to rooting out international price-fixing cartels that cheat American consumers and producers.”