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US: Shipping executive acquitted of antitrust charge

By  |  May 19, 2015

Thomas Farmer, former Vice President of Price and Yield Management at Crowley Liner Services, has been acquitted of a conspiracy to fix freight rates and shipping surcharges between the continental US and Puerto Rico, closing a case bought forward by the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division.

In March 2013, the DOJ indicted Farmer, accusing him of conspiring with two major competitors between 2005 to 2008, to engage in anti-competitive practices in the hope of suppressing and eliminating competition, in violation of the Sherman Act.

As a result of the investigation, the three largest sea freight carriers serving routes between the United States and Puerto Rico have already pleaded guilty and been ordered to pay more than $46 million in criminal fines for their roles in the conspiracy.

 

Full content: JD Supra Business Advisor

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