Antitrust Lawyer Blog

On April 20, 2009, the U.S. Senate approved the appointment of Christine A. Varney as Assistant Attorney Generals. Ms. Varney will lead the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division. From 1990 to 1992, Ms. Varney was an associate at Hogan & Hartson’s. In 1997, she became a partner at the law firm leading its Internet Practice…

On April 9, 2009, Cargolux Airlines International, Nippon Cargo Airlines, and Asiana Airlines, pled guilty and agreed to pay criminal fines totaling $214 million for their role in worldwide conspiracy to fix to fix prices in the air cargo industry. The three airlines took part in the conspiracy between 2000 and 2006. Cargolux Airlines agreed…

On April 8, 2009, Stephen E. McAnulty, a former owner of an asbestos monitoring contractor that provided services to New York Presbyterian Hospital (“NYPH”), pled guilty to making false statements to agents and representatives of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division. According to the charge, Mr. McAnulty lied to law…

On April 2, 2009, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) required BASF, a world leading chemical company based in Germany, to divest assets related to two high performance pigments of Ciba Holding Inc (“Ciba”) in order for BASF’s proposed $5.1 billion acquisition of Ciba to proceed after the statutory public comment period of 30 days. It…

On April 2, 2009, Durwanda Elizabeth Morgan Heinrich, a dirt, sand, and gravel subcontractor, and Kern Carver Bernard Wilson, a former contract employee of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers were convicted on charges of conspiring to commit bribery. Additionally, Heinrich was found guilty of two counts of offering a bribe to a public official…

On April 2, 2009, Ronald K. Johnston and James P. Robinson, two former employees of Home Depot, were sentenced to federal prison and were ordered pay restitution fees for their role in a conspiracies to commit wire and tax fraud against its former employer. Mr. Johnston and Mr. Robinson were sentenced to serve five years…

On April 2, 2009, Krzysztof Koczon, a resident of Connecticut, pled guilty for his role in a conspiracy to defraud the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”). Mr. Koczon provided his co-conspirators with false documentation stating that he performed certain construction services and received more than $2.3 million in checks from his co-conspirators. The construction services provided…

On April 1, 2009, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) announced that Acting Director of the Bureau of Competition, David P. Wales would step down in May. Mr. Wales joined the FTC as Deputy Director of the Bureau of Competition in April 2006 and took on his current role in August 2008. He has led the…

On March 31, 2009, Sakae Someya, an executive at Hitachi Displays, Ltd. (“Hitachi”) was charged for participating in a conspiracy to suppress and eliminate competition in the Thin Film Transistor-Liquid Crystal Display (“TFT-LCD”) industry by fixing prices of TFT-LCD panels sold to Dell, Inc (“Dell”) for its use in notebook and desktop computers. TFT-LCD panels…

On March 26, 2009, Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (“BMS”) agreed to pay a fine of $2.1 million for failing to inform the Federal Trade Commission of oral agreements reached with Apotex, Inc., regarding potential generic competition to its drug Plavix. BMS’s conduct violated a 2003 FTC Order and the Medicare Modernization Act, which requires that certain…