Korean companies to plead guilty to rigging fuel prices at US military bases

U.S. Department of Justice antitrust chief Makan Delrahim says SK Energy, GS Caltex and Hanjin Transportation have agreed to plead guilty to conspiring to rig fuel prices at U.S. military bases in Korea. AP

By Jung Min-ho

Three Korean companies will plead guilty to conspiring to rig fuel prices at U.S. military bases in Korea, the U.S. Department of Justice said Thursday (KST).

SK Energy, GS Caltex and Hanjin Transportation will pay $236 million in criminal and civil penalties for their role in a conspiracy to fix the price of fuel between 2005 and 2016.

Makan Delrahim, head of the department's antitrust division, said there may be other co-conspirators and investigators will dig deeper into the case.

The main entrance to the United States Forces Korea's Camp Casey / Korea Times file

"These charges are the first to be announced in this investigation into bid rigging and price fixing of fuel supply services to the Department of Defense in this critical region," Delrahim said. "As a result of the anti-competitive agreement, the U.S. Department of Defense paid substantially more for fuel supply services than it would have absent the collusion."

The petroleum and refinery companies and their agents tried to suppress competition during the bidding process for U.S. military fuel contracts, according to the department.

Delrahim refused to disclose the exact amount of money the U.S. military lost in the rigging, but said the civil penalties against the companies were more than they had overcharged.

The three will pay some $82 million in criminal fines. Separately, they will pay about $154 million over civil charges brought against them.

The U.S. stations about 28,000 troops here to deter North Korean aggression, after the Korean War ended in 1953 without a peace treaty.

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