US government says 6 freight forwarders fixed prices, agree to pay $50.27M and plead guilty

6 freight forwarders to pay $50.27M settlement

WASHINGTON — The Justice Department says half a dozen freight forwarding companies conspired to fix fees and have agreed to plead guilty and will pay $50.27 million in criminal fines.

The charges filed Thursday in Washington are against EGL Inc. of Houston; Kuhne + Nagel International AG in Schindellegi, Switzerland; Geologistics International Management (Bermuda) Limited in Hamilton, Bermuda; Panalpina World Transport (Holding) Ltd., in Basel, Switzerland; Schenker AG in Essen, Germany; and BAX Global Inc. of Toledo, Ohio.

The companies’ customers were buying freight forwarding of cargo shipped by air to the United States from 2002 to 2007.