Digital News Report – Northwest Airlines LLC plead guilty and agreed to pay a $38 million fine for conspiring to fix prices for air cargo transportation. This announcement was made today by the Department of Justice.
Northwest Airlines Cargo had one-count felony charges filed against them today in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Northwest Airlines Cargo is not in operation any longer and was accused of conspiring to fix cargo rates in this industry for US shipments and for international shipments from around July of 2004 through February of 2006. Northwest Airlines LLC was in violation of the Sherman Act which has a maximum fine of $100 million for corporations.
There are a total of 16 airlines that have pleaded guilty or have agreed to plead guilty because of this price fixing cargo shipment investigation. There have been over $1.6 billion in criminal fines assessed from this price fixing scheme. Four executives are serving prison time, and another fifth executive has charges pending.
By: Victoria Brown