Fuel Supply Bid-Rigging Prosecution Highlights Interplay of Whistleblower Statute and Antitrust Division’s Leniency Program

Sonny A. Carpenter & Jeffrey Martino (The Antitrust Advocate)

On April 8, the Department of Justice (DOJ) Antitrust Division (Division), the DOJ Civil Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Ohio (collectively, the Government) announced a civil antitrust and False Claims Act (FCA) complaint and concurrent settlement regarding a bid-rigging conspiracy that targeted fuel supply contracts for U.S. military installations in South Korea.[1] A continuation of the larger line of cases involving South Korean fuel contract bid-rigging,[2] this final settlement with Jier Shin Korea Co. Ltd (Jier Shin) and its president, Sang Joo Lee (Lee) (together, the Defendants), demonstrates the DOJ’s commitment to using Section 4A of the Clayton Act[3] and the FCA to regulate anticompetitive conduct in which the U.S. is the victim.

Case Background and Defendants’ Conduct

Jier Shin is a small Korean logistics company privately held by Lee and his family as majority owners. As mentioned above, the DOJ alleged that Jier Shin agreed with five Korean transportation and oil refinery companies to fix prices and rig bids for U.S. military fuel supply contracts. Interestingly, this case arose out of a FCA qui tam whistleblower claim alleging the Defendants made false claims regarding their involvement in the conspiracy. This indicates that someone either inside the company or with significant knowledge of the company’s operations possessed the evidence necessary to convince the Government to initiate an enforcement action…

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