Brazil: Authority dawn raids go after prosthetics cartel

CADE’s General Superintendence launched, on 1 December 2015, with the support of the Brazilian Federal Police, the Operation “Merchant of Venice”, for the fulfilment of search and seizure warrants in eight municipalities in four states in order to investigate an alleged cartel in the Brazilian market of orthoses and prostheses. 

The investigated conducts may involve agreements among competitors regarding bids, market division, and price fixing. These illegal conducts, if proven, tend to create restrictions of supply and higher prices, affecting consumers and overburdening the health system.

The investigation was based on the analysis of data on public bids collected by CADE, which indicated suspicious collusive behavior, as well as on complaints of public procurement agencies, contributions from private buyers and analyses of the Federal Court of Accounts.

Source: CADE

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