Trelleborg execs plead guilty to marine hose conspiracy

Washington DC - The US Department of Justice (DoJ) announced today that two executives of French marine hose manufacturer Trelleborg Industries SAS have pleaded guilty to participating in a conspiracy to rig bids, fix prices and allocate market shares of marine hose in the US and elsewhere, between 1999 and 2007.

Christian Caleca, president of Trelleborg's Industrial Fluid Systems business unit, and Jacques Cognard, the company's product area manager for oil and marine products along with other foreign executives, were arrested on 2 May and charged for their role in the conspiracy.

As a result of their plea both men will serve 14 months in jail and cooperate fully in the Department's ongoing investigation. They will also both have to pay a fine -- Caleca $75,000 (€51 000) and Cognard $100,000 (€69 000).

According to the 6 Nov statement from the Department of Justice, This “charge is an example of the Department's commitment to protect US taxpayers from public procurement fraud through its creation of the National Procurement Fraud Task Force.”

Five other foreign executives, who were arrested in May, have been charged for their involvement in the conspiracy, but only Caleca and Cognard have admitted their charges.

Executives that have been accused include Peter Whittle, owner of the UK-based consulting firm PW Consulting (Oil & Marine) Ltd.; Bryan Allison, managing director, and David Brammar, sales and marketing director, both of the UK company Dunlop Oil and Marine Ltd and Vanni Scodeggio, a business unit manager at Parker ITR srl in Italy as well as Misao Hioki, an executive involved in the sale of marine hose for Bridgestone Corp. in Japan.

Two other executives from Manuli Rubber Industries SpA, who were accused of taking part in the conspiracy, will go on trial in May 2008.

According to the statement, during the conspiracy, hundreds of millions of dollars worth of marine hose and related products were affected by the cartel worldwide. The victims of this conspiracy include companies involved in the offshore extraction and/or transportation of petroleum products and the US Department of Defense.

Law enforcement agencies from multiple foreign jurisdictions are investigating or assisting in the ongoing matter.

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Press release from the Department of Justice