Nestle Canada Inc. and others face criminal charges in a chocolate price-fixing case, Canada’s competition watchdog announced.
Mars Canada Inc. and the national distribution network Itwal Ltd. have also been charged, along with three senior industry executives, according to the Competition Bureau’s statement.
An investigation has been conducted for more than five years into Canada’s multi billion dollar a year candy industry. Yet, none of the allegations have been proven in court.
A fourth company, Hershey Canada Inc., is expected to plead guilty on June 21 for its role in the alleged conspiracy to fix the price of chocolate confectionery products in Canada, the Competition Bureau stated.
Two former senior executives at Nestle and the current chief executive of Itwal were also charged. The individuals named are Robert Leonidas, a former president of Nestle Canada, Sandra Martinez, a former president of confectionery for Nestle Canada and David Glenn Stevens, president and chief executive officer of Itwal.
The federal watchdog said that the investigation uncovered evidence suggesting the accused conspired, agreed or arranged to fix prices of chocolate products from 2002 to 2008, a bureau spokesperson said.
Thus, court documents unsealed in December 2007, allege senior executives at Hershey, Mars and Nestle met secretly in order to set prices.
The documents allege the chief executive of Nestle Canada handed envelopes stuffed with pricing information to a competitor. He also instructed the person not to be seen picking up the material in his office.
The maximum penalties at the time the alleged conduct occurred were 7.55 million euros and/or five years in prison, though they have since been increased to 18.89 million euros and/or 14 years in prison.
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