Articles Posted in DOJ Antitrust Highlights

On June 12, 2008, James P. Robinson of Atlanta, GA was charged with two counts of income tax evasion and one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud in a kickback scheme against Home Depot. After appearing in court, the presiding judge granted Mr. Robinson a $10,000 bond. Allegedly, Mr. Robinson took kickbacks from foreign…

On June 10, 2008 the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) along with the State of Vermont entered into a settlement agreement that would allay their concerns that Verizon Communication Corp.’s (“Verizon”) acquisition of Rural Cellular Corp. (“RCC”) for $2.7 billion as proposed is anticompetitive. To resolve antitrust concerns, the DOJ required Verzion to divest assets in…

On June 10, 2005, Levonda J. Selph, a retired colonel in the U.S. Army, pled guilty to charges of conspiracy and bribery for her role in influencing Department of Defense (“DOD”) contracts at Camp Victory, Iraq in 2004 and 2005. In addition to pleading guilty, Lieutenant Colonel Selph agreed to serve a term of imprisonment…

On June 5, 2008, Charles N. Kriss, a former New York City Department of Citywide Administrative Services engineer, was indicted for his role in a conspiracy to commit bribery by a federal grand jury in the U.S. District Court in Inslip, NY. The Department of Justice accused Mr. Kriss of accepting bribes from a co-conspirator…

On June 5, 2008, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) approved a joint venture between SABMiller plc and Molson Coors Brewing Company which combined their operations in the United States and Puerto Rico. While the transaction combined two of three largest U.S. brewers in the United States, the DOJ’s Antitrust Division did not find any evidence…

On June 3, 2008, Steven L. Berman, a Maryland tax lien agent, pled guilty and agreed to pay $750,000 for his role in rigging bids in tax lien auctions in several Maryland counties. Mr. Berman is likely to face a period of incarceration up to 10 years. If a property owner in Maryland fails to…

On June 3, 2008, Raman International Inc. (“Raman”), a defense contractor, pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit bribery. It agreed to pay the maximum criminal fine for a corporation charged with conspiracy to commit bribery of $500,000 and restitution fees amounting to $327,192 to the Department of Defense (“DOD”). According to the…

On May 30, 2008, as a part of their ongoing investigation into the military restraints industry, the DOJ reached a plea agreement with Wilson Freire, a former government contracts manager at Peck & Hale LLC. Mr. Freire pled guilty to two separate conspiracies of bid rigging and taking kickbacks on contracts taken in connection with…

On May 29, 2008, Anthony M. Tesvich, a former employee of Home Depot, was charged with three counts of tax evasion and one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. According to the Department of Justice, the conspiracy took place from October 2002 to October 2007. Mr. Tesvich took kickbacks from various foreign vendors seeking…

On May 28, 2008, the Department of Justice blocked a proposed $750 million acquisition of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company’s College Division (“HM College”) by Cengage Learning, Inc (“Cengage”). The DOJ required the divestiture of Cengage’s assets related to the textbooks and education materials of 14 of its college level courses. The textbooks ranged from…