Bumble Bee pleads guilty to price fixing
Tuna company agrees to pay $25 million fine
One of the big three tuna companies, Bumble Bee Foods, has pleaded guilty to its role in a conspiracy to fix the prices of packaged seafood and agreed to pay a $25 million criminal fine.
The company pleaded guilty last week to one count of violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act, according to documents filed in U.S. District Court Northern District of California.
The fine, to be paid over a period of five years, was reduced from $136.2 million “due to Bumble
Bee’s inability to pay a full criminal fine without substantially jeopardizing the continued viability of the organization,” according to court documents. The fine will jump to $81.5 million if the company is sold.
The U.S. Department of Justice has been conducting an investigation into allegations that Bumble Bee, along with Pittsburgh-based StarKist and Tri-Union Seafoods, which owns the Chicken of the Sea brand, conspired to keep the price of shelf-stable seafood artificially high. Both Bumble Bee and Tri-Union are based in San Diego.
Last week’s move by Bumble Bee represents the fourth guilty plea in the DOJ’s investigation into canned and pouch tuna.
Three former executives at tuna companies also have been charged and pleaded guilty: W. Scott Cameron, a former senior vice president of sales for Bumble Bee on Jan. 25; Kenneth Worsham, a former senior vice president of trade marketing for Bumble Bee, on March 15; and Stephen Hodge, former senior vice president of sales for StarKist, on June 28.
While the DOJ has conducted its own investigation, numerous retailers, grocers, wholesalers and suppliers, including Target, Walmart, Kroger and Giant Eagle, have filed separate lawsuits alleging price fixing.
In a plea agreement, Bumble Bee has agreed to continue to cooperate in the ongoing investigation.
Much of the plea agreement has been redacted in light of the ongoing investigation.
The Department of Justice said the conspiracy took place between 2011 and 2013.
In a statement, Bumble Bee said the company “has taken this matter very seriously and fully cooperated with the DOJ from the start of the investigation.
“We have established strong guidelines and new internal policies for our path forward, which is being overseen by a chief compliance officer that we hired last fall,” continued the statement attributed to Jill Irvin, senior vice president and general counsel.
“We accept full responsibility for needing to earn back any lost trust in our company and will do so by acting with integrity and transparency in every way we operate our business.”