Price fixing air cargo boss faces up to jail and £1m fine
December 6, 2011
A former executive of a Peruvian air cargo carrier last week admitted his role in a conspiracy to fix surcharges on air cargo shipments from the US to South and Central America following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005, the Department of Justice announced.
George Gonzalez, former chief commercial officer of Cielos Airlines, pleaded guilty in the Southern District of Florida to a charge of price fixing.
In October last year, Gonzalez and three other former airline executives were charged in Miami with conspiring to suppress and eliminate competition by agreeing to impose an increase to their fuel surcharges.
Two of the other indicted former airline executives admitted the charge in September. Guillermo Cabeza, former president of Arrow Air, and Luis Juan Soto, former president of South Winds Cargo, are awaiting sentencing.
Gonzalez, Cabeza and Soto have each agreed to co-operate with the investigation and to pay a criminal fine.
They pleaded guilty to price-fixing in violation of the Sherman Act, which carries a maximum $1 million fine and up to 10 years in prison.
Courtesy of IFW
