Japanese Freight Firm Pleads Guilty To Cartel Effecting Roll-on, Roll-off Cargo

Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (NYK), a Japanese corporation, has agreed to plead guilty in Maryland federal court to violating Sherman Act §1 and will pay a $59.4 million criminal fine for its participation in a cartel that fixed prices, allocated customers and rigged bids for international ocean shipping services for roll-on, roll-off cargo (U.S. v. Nippon Yusen Kaisha Kabushiki, D. Md., 14-cr-00612, 12/29/14).

According to the Department of Justice, NYK is the third company to agree to plead guilty in DOJ’s investigation of the international roll-on/roll-off cargo industry, bringing the total agreed-upon fines to over $135 ...