Two Ocean Shipping Companies to Pay $3.4 Million to Settle Claims of Price Fixing Government Cargo Transportation Contracts

Sea Star Line LLC and Horizon Lines LLC have agreed to resolve allegations that they violated the False Claims Act by fixing the price of government cargo transportation contracts between the continental United States and Puerto Rico, the Department of Justice announced today.   Under the settlement agreements, Sea Star Line has agreed to pay $1.9 million, and Horizon Lines has agreed to pay $1.5 million.

“Today’s civil settlements demonstrate our continuing vigilance to ensure that those doing business with the government do not engage in anticompetitive conduct,” said Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Civil Division Stuart F. Delery.   “Government contractors who seek to profit at the expense of taxpayers will face serious consequences.”

The government alleged that former executives of the defendant ocean shippers used personal email accounts to communicate confidential bidding information, thereby enabling each of the shippers to know the transportation rates that its competitor intended to submit to federal agencies for specific routes.   This information allowed the shippers to allocate specific routes between themselves at predetermined rates.   Among the contracts affected were U.S. Postal Service contracts to transport mail and Department of Agriculture contracts to ship food.   Both Sea Star Line and Horizon Lines previously pleaded guilty, in related criminal proceedings, to anticompetitive conduct in violation of the Sherman Act.

“Postal Service contractors must understand and know that actions that undermine the contracting process, such as conspiring to suppress and eliminate competition, will not be tolerated and will be aggressively investigated,” said Tom Frost, Special Agent in Charge of the Major Fraud Investigations Division (MFID) with the Postal Service Office of Inspector General.   “MFID will continue to work with DOJ, both criminally and civilly, to bring those individuals and companies to justice.”

The civil settlements resolve allegations in a lawsuit filed in federal court in Jacksonville, Fla., by former Sea Star Line executive William B. Stallings.   The lawsuit was filed under the qui tam, or whistleblower, provisions of the False Claims Act, which permit private individuals to sue on behalf of the government for false claims and to share in any recovery.   The Act also allows the government to intervene and take over the action, as it did in this case.   Stallings will receive $512,719 of the recovered funds.

The settlements were the result of a coordinated effort by the Civil Division of the Department of Justice and the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General.

The case is captioned United States ex rel. Stallings v. Sea Star Line LLC, et al., Case No. 3:13-cv-152-J-12JBT (M.D. Fla.).   The claims resolved by the settlements are allegations only, except to the extent the conduct was admitted as part of the defendants’ prior guilty pleas, and there has been no determination of liability.

FORMER SEA STAR LINE PRESIDENT SENTENCED TO SERVE FIVE YEARS IN PRISON FOR ROLE IN PRICE-FIXING CONSPIRACY INVOLVING COASTAL FREIGHT SERVICES BETWEEN THE CONTINENTAL UNITED STATES AND PUERTO RICO

WASHINGTON — The former president  of Sea Star Line LLC, a Jacksonville, Fla.-based water freight carrier, was  sentenced to serve five years in prison and to pay a $25,000 criminal fine for  his participation in a conspiracy to fix rates and surcharges for freight  transported by water between the continental United States and Puerto Rico, the  Department of Justice announced today.

Frank Peake was  sentenced today by Judge Daniel R. Dominguez in U.S. District Court for the  District of Puerto Rico in San Juan.  Peake’s  two-week trial took place in January 2013.

“The sentence  imposed today reflects the serious harm these conspirators inflicted on  American consumers, both in the continental United States and in Puerto Rico,” said  Bill Baer, Assistant Attorney General in charge of Department of Justice’s  Antitrust Division.  “The Antitrust  Division will continue to vigorously prosecute executives who collude to fix  prices at the expense of consumers.”

According to court documents and evidence presented at  trial, Peake and his co-conspirators  conspired through meetings and other communications in the continental United  States and Puerto Rico to fix, stabilize and maintain rates and surcharges for  Puerto Rico freight services, to allocate customers of Puerto Rico freight  services between and among the conspirators and to rig bids submitted to  customers of Puerto Rico freight services.   Peake was involved in the conspiracy from at least late 2005 until at  least April 2008.

As a result of the  ongoing investigation, the three largest water freight carriers serving routes  between the continental United States and Puerto Rico, including Peake’s former  employer Sea Star, have pleaded guilty and been ordered to pay more than $46  million in criminal fines for their roles in the conspiracy.  Sea Star pleaded guilty on Dec. 20, 2011, and  was sentenced by Judge Dominguez to pay a $14.2 million criminal fine.  Sea Star transports a variety of cargo  shipments, such as heavy equipment, perishable food items, medicines and  consumer goods, on scheduled ocean voyages between the continental United States  and Puerto Rico.

Peake and five  other individuals have been ordered to serve prison sentences ranging from  seven months to five years.  Additionally,  Thomas Farmer, the former vice president of price and yield management of  Crowley Liner Services, was indicted in March 2013 for  his role in the conspiracy and is scheduled to go to trial in May 2014.

This case is part of an ongoing investigation being conducted by the  Antitrust Division’s National Criminal Enforcement Section and the Defense Criminal  Investigative Service.  Anyone with  information concerning price fixing or other anticompetitive conduct in the  coastal water freight transportation industry is urged to call the Antitrust  Division’s National Criminal Enforcement Section at 202-307-6694.