Argos USA LLC, a subsidiary of Argos USA Argos cement plant in the United States, signed an agreement with the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, under which it will have to pay $ 20 million.
(You may be interested in: ‘The brands and companies that will break their relationship with Donald Trump’).
In a statement, the company stated that this month is the result of the resolution of an investigation into the anti-competitive conduct of a small group of ex-employees of a local sales office in Pooler, Georgia, who joined Argos USA by acquiring assets from another company, after they had already incurred such conduct.
“The Argos USA administration, outside Pooler’s office, did not participate in or tolerate the conduct, which was carried out in violation of the company’s compliance policies. The assets in Pooler, Georgia, were sold years later and are no longer part of Argos USA. Argos USA has accepted responsibility for the conduct of its employees and will continue to actively cooperate with the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) in this matter. “
(Besides: Fourth quarter closed with more than 65,000 new companies).
In a statement issued Jan. 4, the DOJ noted that employees of Argos, and other ready-mixed concrete companies, participated in a conspiracy to set prices, match bids and allocate markets to beat ready-mixed concrete sales in the southern district of Georgia and elsewhere.
According to the DOJ, the conspiracy included coordinating the issuance of price increase letters to customers, the assignment of specific precast concrete work in the coastal area of Georgia, the collection of fuel surcharges and environmental tariffs, and the presentation of offers to customers at collusive and non-competitive prices. These events would have taken place between 2010 and July 2016.
In the statement, Makan Delrahim, assistant secretary of justice of the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division, noted that “pricing, market allocation and manipulation of tenders are not only unethical, but illegal. “.
(Too: ‘Strong volatility and lack of control, among the risks of Bitcoin’).
For his part, Bobby L. Christine, federal prosecutor for the Southern District of Georgia, said that “there is no place in the Southern District of Georgia for companies trying to inflate their profits by illegally colluding with potential competitors at the expense of of consumers “.
Find also in Economy:
New law simplifies rules for housing subsidies
Principles that, according to experts, should guide pension reform
In video: From scratch: if you work from home because of the pandemic, this interests you
ECONOMY AND BUSINESS