San Francisco: Another executive from Japanese shipping line K Line has been given an 18-month sentence in the US for his part in a price-fixing scandal surrounding ro-ro cargo.
Toru Otoda became the third executive of Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha (K-Line) to be imprisoned and fined for the affair when a US District Court in Maryland passed sentence on Thursday.
Otoda was a general manager in K-Line’s car carrier division and had pleaded guilty to price fixing. As well as 18 months jail time he was fined $20,000.
The charge related to price fixing in the Port of Baltimore between November 2010 and September 2012.
Two K Line employees were sentenced previously after pleading guilty to the charges – Hiroshige Tanioka was given 18 months in January while Takashi Yamaguchi, received 14 months in February. Both were also fined $20,000.
Three Japanese shipping companies have agreed to plead guilty and to pay criminal fines totalling more than $136m, including K-Line, which was sentenced to pay a criminal fine of $67.7m.
