FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (Dec. 2, 2008) — Dunlop Oil & Marine Ltd. said it will plead guilty to one count of conspiracy and pay a $4.54 million fine in a plea bargain with the U.S. Department of Justice in an ongoing investigation of an alleged price-fixing conspiracy among marine hose manufacturers.
The Justice Department has filed a one-count felony charge against Dunlop Oil & Marine, a rubber marine hose manufacturer based in Grimsby, England, before the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, which will rule on the plea agreement.
Dunlop executives David Brammar and Bryan Allison and former Dunlop official Peter Whittle have pleaded guilty in the case, as have executives of several other companies.
Val M. Northcutt and Francesco Scaglia, executives of Manuli Rubber Industries S.p.A., have been acquitted in the case. Uwe Bangert, a former executive of Dunlop Oil & marine parent company Phoenix A.G., and Misao Hioki, an executive of Bridgestone Corp., await separate trials.