De Beers to Pay $10 Million Fine, Ending 10-Year, Price-Fixing Suit
Global diamond giant De Beers SA admitted its part in a criminal conspiracy to fix prices in industrial diamonds and agreed to pay a $10 million fine (�8.1 million), ending a decade-old government lawsuit.
The plea agreement filed in U.S. District Court in Columbus, Ohio, will let De Beers operate freely in the U.S., where its officers have been effectively barred from entry since 1945, when the Justice Department first filed antitrust charges against the South Africa based company.
The plea resolves criminal charges filed in 1994 alleging that De Beers and General Electric Co. conspired in the early 1990s to fix industrial-diamond prices. The government failed to prove its case against GE, which was acquitted in 1994. De Beers didn't appear at the trial, and withheld evidence that the government needed to prove its case against the companies, prosecutors have said.
In its plea, De Beers admits there was indeed a conspiracy with another company, which prosecutors have identified as GE. De Beers told the court it "participated in a conspiracy with another manufacturer...to raise the list prices of saw diamond, compact tooling and drilling products in the U.S. and elsewhere."
As part of the conspiracy, De Beers "attended meetings with, and transmitted detailed pricing information and plans to its co-conspirator." De Beers added that the two firms "used the cover of an officer of a customer, who was actually acting on behalf of the defendant, to transmit detailed pricing information to each other."
The Justice Department has no plans to pursue the case; GE's acquittal 10 years ago shields it from new charges or civil claims.
"The De Beers plea does not affect GE, which has strongly contested these charges since 1994," said Peter Stack, a GE spokesman. "As a result of being found innocent, GE has no exposure to any further proceedings," he said.
GE sold the industrial-diamond business last year, a move unrelated to any legal issues, Mr. Stack said. He said the unit "did not meet long-term growth expectations for the GE portfolio."
In a statement, De Beers said its resolution of the case reflects a commitment "to be legally compliant throughout the world." Hewitt Pate, the Justice Department antitrust chief, said in a separate statement that "although jurisdictional issues prevented the Department from litigating the charge against [De Beers] for a decade, this plea indicates our commitment to seeing justice prevail."
The end of the case isn't expected to have much immediate effect on the diamond market, which De Beers has dominated for a century. Despite rising competition from Canada, Australia and Russia, the South Africa-based mining concern still controls nearly two-thirds of the world's supply of unpolished diamonds.
"De Beers has no plans to change the way it does business" or pursue a direct retail presence in the U.S., said Lynette Hori, a spokeswoman for the company's London-based diamond-trading company. "We sell rough diamonds to our clients in London and Johannesburg, and we have no plans to change that."
Still, resolving the case will free De Beers to deal directly in the U.S., the world's largest diamond market and where it has long been a major advertiser, burnishing its brand and relentlessly promoting diamond jewelry through its "A Diamond Is Forever" campaign. De Beers's only direct retail presence is through a recent joint venture with LVMH Mo?t Hennessey Louis Vuitton SA, with stores in London and Tokyo.
Now, with the U.S. criminal case resolved, De Beers executives can attend the planned opening later this year of a third store, on New York's Fifth Avenue, competing head-to-head with Tiffany & Co., Cartier and other luxury-goods merchants.
De Beers still faces four unrelated private civil antitrust suits, each alleging that the firm abused its dominant market position, and more may be filed if the company re-enters the U.S. market. "De Beers has made the calculation that it is worth whatever risk there may be in order to operate in the U.S.," said John Majoras -- a lawyer with Jones, Day in Washington -- who has defended corporate clients in global price-fixing cases.
De Beers, which is 45% owned by London mining giant Anglo American PLC, reported net income last year of $484 million on diamond sales of $5.52 billion, up 7% from 2002 sales.
戴比尔斯承认参与价格操纵共谋
全球钻石业巨头戴比尔斯(De Beers SA)承认，该公司参与了操纵工业钻石价格的犯罪共谋，并同意支付1,000万美元罚款，以了结与美国政府一场长达10年的官司。
该公司在俄亥俄州哥伦布美国地区法院递交的有条件认罪协议将使其可以自由进入美国这个全球最大的钻石市场。
1945年，美国司法部(Justice Department)首次对该公司提起反垄断指控，此后，该公司官员一直被禁止进入美国。
1994年，该公司被指控与通用电气公司(General Electric Co., GE)在90年代初期合谋操纵工业钻石价格。上述认罪协议最终了结这一刑事指控。
位于伦敦的矿业巨头Anglo American PLC拥有该公司45%的股份。戴比尔斯去年钻石销售额达到55.2亿美元，较2002年增加7%，□利润达4.84亿美元。
