WASHINGTON, July 28 /EMWNews/ --- The former

highest-ranking cargo executive in the United States for SAS Cargo Group

A/S (SAS), a Scandinavian-based airline, has agreed to plead guilty and

serve six months in jail for participating in a conspiracy to fix prices

for air cargo rates, the Department of Justice announced today.



    According to the charges filed today in U.S. District Court for the

District of Columbia, Timothy Pfeil, while in his capacity as SAS's area

director of sales and marketing for North America, conspired with

competitors to fix the rates charged to U.S. and international customers on

air cargo shipments, in violation of the Sherman Act. In accordance with

the plea agreement, which is subject to court approval, Pfeil has agreed to

cooperate with the Department's ongoing investigation.



    In July 2008, SAS pleaded guilty and was sentenced to pay a $52 million

criminal fine for conspiring to fix prices on air cargo rates.



    The air cargo conspiracy affected billions of dollars of consumer and

other goods--including produce, clothing, electronics and

medicines--shipped by air cargo companies. Including today's charges, nine

companies and two executives have been charged in the Antitrust Division's

ongoing investigation into the air cargo industry and more than $1.2

billion in criminal fines have been imposed.



    "The air transportation of industrial and consumer products is a

critical part of the global economy," said Thomas O. Barnett, Assistant

Attorney General in charge of the Department's Antitrust Division. "The

Department will continue its investigation of this important industry, and

we remain dedicated to aggressively pursuing all those who engage in

criminal conduct that harms American consumers."



    According to the charges, beginning at least as early as January 2005

and continuing until at least February 2006, Pfeil and his co-conspirators:



    -- participated in meetings, conversations and communications in the

United States and elsewhere to discuss the cargo rates to be charged on

certain routes to and from the United States;



    -- agreed during those meetings, conversations and communications, on

certain components of the cargo rates to be charged for shipments on

certain routes to and from the United States;



    -- charged cargo rates in the United States and elsewhere in accordance

with the agreements reached; and



    -- engaged in meetings, conversations and communications in the United

States and elsewhere for the purpose of monitoring and enforcing adherence

to the agreed-upon cargo rates.



    In August 2007, British Airways PLC pleaded guilty and was sentenced to

pay a $300 million criminal fine for conspiring to fix cargo rates for

international air shipments, including to and from the United States, and

to fix passenger fuel surcharges for long-haul international air

transportation, including between the United States and United Kingdom. The

same day, Korean Air Lines pleaded guilty and was sentenced to pay a $300

million criminal fine for conspiring to fix cargo rates charged to

customers in the United States and elsewhere for international air

shipments and to fix wholesale and passenger fares for flights from the

United States to Korea.



    In January 2008, Qantas Airways Limited pleaded guilty and was

sentenced to pay a $61 million criminal fine for its role in a conspiracy

to fix cargo rates to customers in the United States and elsewhere for

international air shipments.



    In May 2008, Japan Airlines pleaded guilty and was sentenced to pay a

$110 million criminal fine for conspiring to fix rates for international

cargo shipments.



    Also in May 2008, Bruce McCaffrey, Qantas' former highest-ranking

executive employed in the United States, pleaded guilty to fixing cargo

rates to customers in the United States and elsewhere for international air

shipments, and agreed to serve eight months in jail, and to pay a criminal

fine.



    Along with SAS, in July 2008, Cathay Pacific Airways Limited (Cathay),

Martinair Holland N.V. (Martinair), Societe Air France (Air France) and

Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij N.V. (KLM Royal Dutch Airlines) pleaded

guilty to conspiring to fix prices on air cargo rates. Cathay was sentenced

to pay a $60 million criminal fine, Martinair was sentenced to pay a $42

million criminal fine, and Air France-KLM, which now operates under common

ownership by a single holding company, was sentenced to pay a $350 million

criminal fine.



    The ongoing investigation is being conducted by the Antitrust

Division's National Criminal Enforcement Section and the Federal Bureau of

Investigation (FBI). Anyone with information concerning price-fixing or

other anti-competitive conduct in the air transportation industry is urged

to call the National Criminal Enforcement Section of the Antitrust Division

at 202-307-6694 or the FBI Washington Field Office at 202-278-2000.