Welcome   Sponsored By
Subscribe | Register | Advertise | Newsletter | About us | Contact us
   


Former Bumble Bee CEO found guilty of tuna price-fixing scheme

Click on the flag for more information about United States UNITED STATES
Thursday, December 05, 2019, 00:00 (GMT + 9)

Former Bumble Bee Foods LLC Chief Executive Officer Chris Lischewski was convicted in a price-fixing conspiracy, capping a yearslong U.S. investigation that shook the packaged seafood industry and pushed Bumble Bee into bankruptcy last month.

Lischewski was found guilty Tuesday by a federal jury in San Francisco after just a few hours of deliberations in what experts say is likely the final piece of the Justice Department probe. Prosecutors alleged that he conspired with colleagues and executives at rival companies on a “peace proposal” in order to boost prices and meet earnings targets set by Bumble Bee’s 2010 sale to Lion Capital.

The former CEO faces up to 10 years in prison and a fine of USD 1 million, according to the indictment.

“We are very disappointed by today’s verdict,” Lischewski’s lawyer, Elliot Peters, said in an emailed statement. “We continue to believe strongly in Chris Lischewski’s innocence and intend to continue vigorously to pursue justice for Chris.”

The conviction underscores the Justice Department’s “willingness and ability to try high stakes price-fixing cases against senior corporate executives,” said Phil Giordano, a partner in the antitrust practice of Hughes Hubbard & Reed LLP and a former federal prosecutor who is not involved in the case.

San Diego-based Bumble Bee, owner of the largest North American brand of packaged seafood, pleaded guilty in 2017 to a felony charge of conspiring with competitors Starkist Co. and Chicken of the Sea Inc. to fix and raise prices of canned tuna in the U.S. from 2011 through at least late 2013.

The company’s guilty plea carried a criminal fine of USD 25 million, a reduced figure that the Justice Department agreed to after Bumble Bee argued a stiffer penalty would tip it into bankruptcy. Subsequent lawsuits filed against Bumble Bee by its customers, mostly major U.S. grocers, added to the financial pressure, forcing the tuna company to file for Chapter 11 protection from creditors on Nov. 21.



“Prosecutors don’t try to put companies out of business,” Giordano said. “But sometimes a fine by the book is in fact so substantial that it can bankrupt the company.”

Starkist pleaded guilty to the price-fixing charges in 2018 and also agreed to cooperate. Chicken of the Sea, owned by Thai Union Group PCL, received conditional leniency from the Justice Department for its cooperation with the investigation and didn’t have to pay fines.
In the case against Lischewski, prosecutors leaned on testimony from his former subordinates, Kenneth Worsham and Walter Cameron, who in 2016 pleaded guilty to price fixing and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors.



Peters devoted much of his closing arguments to attacking the credibility of Worsham and Cameron, arguing they fed prosecutors information they wanted to hear in order to reduce their own sentences and fines.

Lischewski’s conviction may make him a target in class-action lawsuits against Bumble Bee and related parties, said Eric Snyder, chairman of the bankruptcy practice at Wilk Auslander LLP, who is not involved in the case.

“Given the criminal fine here, he might end up filing for personal bankruptcy,” Snyder said.

The case is U.S. v. Lischewski, 18-cr-00203, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California (San Francisco).


Authors: 
Joel Rosenblatt and Eliza Ronalds-Hannon /Bloomberg

editorial@seafood.media
www.seafood.media


 Print


Click to know how to advertise in FIS
MORE NEWS
China
Mar 29, 07:40 (GMT + 9):
Southeast Pacific Squid Index: Giant squid (dosidicus gigas)
Canada
Mar 29, 07:10 (GMT + 9):
Cooke Aquaculture Named One of Atlantic Canada’s Top Employers
France
Mar 29, 07:00 (GMT + 9):
Other Media | The Fishing Daily: French Minister Urges Dialogue Over UK Expansion of Marine Protected Areas
Thailand
Mar 29, 07:00 (GMT + 9):
Thai Union Collaborates to Achieve Zero Wastewater Discharge and Establish an Industry Learning Center
Russian Federation
Mar 29, 07:00 (GMT + 9):
Russia and China Combat Illegal Fishing: Electronic Certificates of Legality for Catches
United Kingdom
Mar 29, 07:00 (GMT + 9):
Brexit costs Scotland up to USD 126.09 million-a-year in lost salmon exports
Japan
Mar 29, 03:00 (GMT + 9):
Driftnet fishing for salmon and trout starts early. Agreement with Russia
Russian Federation
Mar 29, 01:00 (GMT + 9):
Will the Russian Far East be the country with the most snow crabs in 2025?
Viet Nam
Mar 29, 01:00 (GMT + 9):
Shrimp exports from Ecuador are facing many challenges
Australia
Mar 28, 21:10 (GMT + 9):
IN BRIEF - At WTO, Australia seeks details on India's fisheries plan
Croatia
Mar 28, 21:00 (GMT + 9):
IN BRIEF - Cromaris business results in 2023
United States
Mar 28, 07:20 (GMT + 9):
AQUA Cultured Foods Partners with Ginkgo Bioworks to Optimize Alt-Seafood Production
United States
Mar 28, 07:00 (GMT + 9):
Seafood Expo Global Announced Finalists of the 2024 Seafood Excellence Global Awards
Norway
Mar 28, 07:00 (GMT + 9):
Borealis and AKVA group launch groundbreaking Polarcirkel™ workboat hull crafted from renewable feedstock-based plastic
Viet Nam
Mar 28, 07:00 (GMT + 9):
China & HK imported 75 million USD of Vietnamese pangasius



Lenguaje
FEATURED EVENTS
  
TOP STORIES
Clipfish challenges in Brazil: Port bureaucracy stops millions worth
Brazil More and more clipfish containers are being stopped in Brazilian ports. - Complicated regulations make market access challenging, to say the least, say Norwegian exporters who risk large losses. Bra...
Catches in the Sea of Okhotsk and Bering Sea
Russia Fed. Situational update as of 03/24/2024 Source: Stockfile FIS Sea of Okhotsk (pollock) According to OSM data in the Sea of Okhotsk, pollock catch (industrial and coastal fisheries) as of March 24, 20...
Productive Development of the Fishing Activity
Peru Fishing Sector Bulletin - January 2024 The landing of hydrobiological resources registered a negative interannual variation of 62.7%, as a result of the lower landing of fishing resources for indirec...
NGO Sues UK Government Over International Fishing Quotas
United Kingdom Blue Marine Foundation, a charity dedicated to restoring the ocean to health, has launched legal proceedings over the government’s decision to set fishing opportunities, for more than half UK st...
 

Maruha Nichiro Corporation
Nichirei Corporation - Headquarters
Pesquera El Golfo S.A.
Ventisqueros - Productos del Mar Ventisqueros S.A
Wärtsilä Corporation - Wartsila Group Headquarters
ITOCHU Corporation - Headquarters
BAADER - Nordischer Maschinenbau Rud. Baader GmbH+Co.KG (Head Office)
Inmarsat plc - Global Headquarters
Marks & Spencer
Tesco PLC (Supermarket) - Headquarters
Sea Harvest Corporation (PTY) Ltd. - Group Headquarters
I&J - Irvin & Johnson Holding Company (Pty) Ltd.
AquaChile S.A. - Group Headquarters
Pesquera San Jose S.A.
Nutreco N.V. - Head Office
CNFC China National Fisheries Corporation - Group Headquarters
W. van der Zwan & Zn. B.V.
SMMI - Sunderland Marine Mutual Insurance Co., Ltd. - Headquarters
Icicle Seafoods, Inc
Starkist Seafood Co. - Headquearters
Trident Seafoods Corp.
American Seafoods Group LLC - Head Office
Marel - Group Headquarters
SalMar ASA - Group Headquarters
Sajo Industries Co., Ltd
Hansung Enterprise Co.,Ltd.
BIM - Irish Sea Fisheries Board (An Bord Iascaigh Mhara)
CEFAS - Centre for Environment, Fisheries & Aquaculture Science
COPEINCA ASA - Corporacion Pesquera Inca S.A.C.
Chun Cheng Fishery Enterprise Pte Ltd.
VASEP - Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters & Producers
Gomes da Costa
Furuno Electric Co., Ltd. (Headquarters)
NISSUI - Nippon Suisan Kaisha, Ltd. - Group Headquarters
FAO - Food and Agriculture Organization - Fisheries and Aquaculture Department (Headquarter)
Hagoromo Foods Co., Ltd.
Koden Electronics Co., Ltd. (Headquarters)
A.P. Møller - Maersk A/S - Headquarters
BVQI - Bureau Veritas Quality International (Head Office)
UPS - United Parcel Service, Inc. - Headquarters
Brim ehf (formerly HB Grandi Ltd) - Headquarters
Hamburg Süd Group - (Headquearters)
Armadora Pereira S.A. - Grupo Pereira Headquarters
Costa Meeresspezialitäten GmbH & Co. KG
NOAA - National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Headquarters)
Mowi ASA (formerly Marine Harvest ASA) - Headquarters
Marubeni Europe Plc -UK-
Findus Ltd
Icom Inc. (Headquarter)
WWF Centroamerica
Oceana Group Limited
The David and Lucile Packard Foundation
Ajinomoto Co., Inc. - Headquarters
Friosur S.A. - Headquarters
Cargill, Incorporated - Global Headquarters
Benihana Inc.
Leardini Pescados Ltda
CJ Corporation  - Group Headquarters
Greenpeace International - The Netherlands | Headquarters
David Suzuki Foundation
Fisheries and Oceans Canada -Communications Branch-
Mitsui & Co.,Ltd - Headquarters
NOREBO Group (former Ocean Trawlers Group)
Natori Co., Ltd.
Carrefour Supermarket - Headquarters
FedEx Corporation - Headquarters
Cooke Inc. - Group Headquarters
AKBM - Aker BioMarine ASA
Seafood Choices Alliance -Headquarter-
Austevoll Seafood ASA
Walmart | Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (Supermarket) - Headquarters
New Japan Radio Co.Ltd (JRC) -Head Office-
Gulfstream JSC
Marine Stewardship Council - MSC Worldwide Headquarters
Royal Dutch Shell plc (Headquarter)
Genki Sushi Co.,Ltd -Headquarter-
Iceland Pelagic ehf
AXA Assistance Argentina S.A.
Caterpillar Inc. - Headquarters
Tiger Brands Limited
SeaChoice
National Geographic Society
AmazonFresh, LLC - AmazonFresh

Copyright 1995 - 2024 Seafood Media Group Ltd.| All Rights Reserved.   DISCLAIMER