Argos USA LLC, a subsidiary of the Argos cement company in the United States, signed an agreement with the Antitrust Division of the United States Department of Justice, under which it will pay $ 20 million.
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In a statement, the company stated that Lake is the result of the resolution of an investigation into the anti-competitive behavior of a small group of former employees of a local sales office in Pooler, Georgia, who joined Argos USA by acquiring assets from another company after they had already engaged in this conduct.
“Argos USA management, outside of Pooler’s office, did not engage in or approve the conduct, which was conducted in violation of the company’s compliance policy. The Pooler, Georgia assets were sold years later and are no longer part of Argos USA. Argos USA has accepted responsibility for the conduct of its former employees and will continue to actively cooperate with the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) on this matter. “
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In a statement released Jan. 4, the DOJ noted that employees of Argos, and other ready-mixed concrete companies participated in a conspiracy to set prices, manipulate bids, and allocate markets for ready-mixed concrete sales in the Southern District of Georgia and elsewhere.
According to the DOJ, the conspiracy involved coordinating the issuance of price increase letters to customers, the allocation of specific charcoal concrete in the Georgia coastal area, the collection of fuel surcharges and environmental surcharges, and the submission of offers to customers at covert and uncompetitive prices. These events are said to have taken place between 2010 and July 2016.
In the statement, Makan Delrahim, deputy attorney general of the Justice Department’s antitrust division, noted that “pricing, market sharing, and bid rigging are not only unethical, but illegal.”
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Bobby L. Christine, US attorney for the Southern District of Georgia, for his part, said that “There is no place in the Southern District of Georgia for companies trying to increase their profits by illegally partnering with potential competitors at the expense of consumers. “
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