Freight Forwarders Admit to Price Fixing

Six international freight forwarders have agreed to plead guilty and pay $50.3 million in fines in relation to a price-fixing investigation, federal officials said.

The Department of Justice has accused the companies of conspiring to impose charges on freight forwarding customers between 2002 and 2007, DOJ said in a statement.

The charges, which DOJ filed and announced Thursday, are the first charges resulting from the department's continuing investigation into price fixing withing the freight forwarding industry, the department said.

The plea agreements are subject to court approval, DOJ said.

The forwards are EGL Inc., Houston; Kuhne & Nagel International, Schindellegi, Switzerland; Geologistics International Management, Hamilton, Bermuda; Panalpina World Transport, Basel, Switzerland; Schenker AG, Essen, Germany; and BAX Global, Toledo, Ohio,