Former Crompton exec to plead guilty to price-fixing charges

From Rubber & Plastics News

Washington-Former Crompton Corp./Uniroyal Chemical executive Joseph Eisenberg has agreed to plead guilty to participating in an international conspiracy to fix prices in the rubber chemicals market, the US Department of Justice said.

Eisenberg, 61 and a 38-year veteran of Crompton and Uniroyal Chemical, could face a prison sentence of up to three years and a fine of up to $350 000, the Justice Department said. Eisenberg has agreed to assist the government in its ongoing rubber chemicals investigation, the agency said.

In a felony case filed in US District Court in San Francisco, Eisenberg was charged under Section 1 of the Sherman Act with fixing the prices of certain rubber chemicals sold in the US and elsewhere from 1995 until 2000. He retired at year-end 2001.

“The wide range of products that contain rubber chemicals illustrates the magnitude of harm a price-fixing scheme in this industry has on American businesses and consumers,” said R. Hewitt Pate, assistant attorney general in charge of the Department's Antitrust Division. “Corporate executives who engage in price fixing will not escape prosecution.”

Eisenberg's cooperation “will enhance and further our enforcement efforts,” said James Griffin, the Antitrust Division's deputy assistant attorney general for criminal enforcement.

Crompton pleaded guilty in March to price-fixing in the rubber chemicals market and was fined $50 million by US and $7 million by Canadian authorities, to be paid over six years.

Crompton still faces a number of civil suits from rubber processors in the US and Canada seeking compensation for being overcharged during the period.