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A StarKist brand product is presented on a grocery shelf. According to the authorities, StarKist has agreed to plead guilty to price-fixing as part of an extensive collusion investigation by the industry.
Lisa Poole / AP
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Lisa Poole / AP
A StarKist brand product is presented on a grocery shelf. According to the authorities, StarKist has agreed to plead guilty to price-fixing as part of an extensive collusion investigation by the industry.
Lisa Poole / AP
StarKist Co. allegedly agreed to plead guilty to price-fixing as part of a conspiracy with two of its competitors to keep the price of canned tuna at a high level.
Federal prosecutors announced Thursday the plea agreement, which provides for a fine of up to $ 100 million, according to the Associated Press. In the same deal, a former StarKist executive and two former executives of Bumble Bee Foods pleaded guilty to pricing.
StarKist's advocacy comes as part of a government investigation into the canned tuna industry, ongoing since at least 2015. Instead, StarKist and Bumble Bee, as well as Chicken of the Sea , are accused of conspiring to fix prices. Overall, the brands control about 80% of the US market for canned tuna.
Last year, Bumble Bee pleaded guilty to conspiring to fix US prices between 2011 and 2013 and paid a $ 25 million fine. A week after Bumble Bee's plea, Walmart alleged in a lawsuit that the company was part of a conspiracy with the other two canned tuna companies.
The AP reports that on Thursday, a former StarKist executive pleaded guilty to pricing, as did two former Bumble Bee executives.
However, Chris Lischewski, former CEO of StarKist, pleaded not guilty to the same charges.
Lischewski resigned in May after being charged with setting the price and incurring up to 10 years in prison. In this indictment, prosecutors alleged that Lischewski "knowingly and consciously participated in the conspiracy" and held meetings and exchanged information on prices, sales, supply, demand and production. with other anonymous conspirators.
Walmart's lawyers have cited e-mails, industry conferences and phone calls in their case against companies, according to the Washington Post.
"Despite variations in supply and demand that should have led to lower prices, [Walmart] continued to pay higher prices for packaged tuna products, "the trial said.
Sea chicken has not been charged but has benefited from conditional clemency in exchange for his help in the investigation of the Department of Justice. This allowed the company to reach a settlement with Walmart, according to SeafoodSource.
The rest of Walmart's lawsuit is still pending.
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