Qantas price-fixing execs named
A news.com.au report says that the US Justice Department has named six Qantas executives connected to a global price-fixing cartel.
Qantas was fined $US61 million ($A69.3 million) by the department last November for its role in price fixing in the air freight industry.
Former and current Qantas executives Peter Frampton, John Cooper, Stephen Cleary, Harold Pang, Desmond Church and Bruce McCaffrey will not receive immunity from prosecution that was offered to Qantas, according to a US Plea Agreement obtained by Melbourne-based law firm Maurice Blackburn.
The law firm said the release of the plea in the US would help a class action it launched in Australia last February against seven major international airlines involved in a price-fixing cartel.
Maurice Blackburn alleges airlines Qantas, Lufthansa, Singapore Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Air New Zealand, JAL and British Airways, formed a cartel to fix fuel, security and war-risk surcharges against Australian freight users, who were fleeced an estimated $200 million over seven years.
Maurice Blackburn principal Kim Parker said the release of the Qantas guilty plea in the US meant the firm’s clients were able to bring this class action into sharp focus.
“We now know exactly which executives of Qantas are in the spotlight of the competition regulators, which will enable us to streamline our clients’ evidence against the airlines,” Ms Parker said.
“We hope this will speed up the process of achieving a just recovery for our clients.”
The class action’s lead applicant is Auskay International, a Melbourne importer and exporter of ducted vacuum systems and spare parts.
Last November, Qantas admitted to the US Justice Department that it had engaged in a price fixing arrangement.
A Report by The Mole from news.com.au
John Alwyn-Jones
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