Three companies accept penalties in ongoing cartel case.
In what is yet another development in the multiple cases about cartels in the demolition industry, three demolition companies have accepted penalties totalling DKK 6.4 million (approx £760,000). Also, three senior employees of two of the companies have agreed to be fined DKK 125,000 (approx £15,000) each for their part in the infringements.
The competition authorities learned about the cartels in the demolition industry in 2015. The authorities found that companies in the industry had engaged in bid rigging and illegal exchange of prices in the period from May 2011 to October 2013. Judgments have already been delivered in some of the cases.
In the latest cases. all three companies all accepted the penalty notices presented by the Danish State Prosecutor for Serious Economic and International Crime: G. Tscherning A/S accepted a penalty of DKK 5.9 million (approx £703,000)for having, from April 2012 to August 2013, illegally exchanged price information with competitors on 12 occasions. Villy C. Petersen Entreprise A/S accepted a penalty of DKK 400,000 (approx £48,000) for having similarly, from January 2012 to August 2013, illegally exchanged price information with competitors on four occasions. Likewise, Brandis A/S accepted a penalty of DKK 100,000 (approx £12,000) for having, from June 2012 to October 2013, illegally exchanged price information with competitors.
The investigations and prosecutions in Denmark have parallels here in the UK where it is thought that as many as six demolition companies are under investigation by the Competition & Markets Authority. However, based upon charges brought in other sectors of the UK construction industry, the penalties in the UK are likely to be far stiffer than in Denmark whould any of the companies be found guilty.
Several directors have been struck off for as much as seven years, while the fine handed down to five fit-out firms prosecuted for cover pricing amounted to around £7.0 million.
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