For more than two years, sellers on Amazon Marketplace had a price-fixing conspiracy involving DVDs and Blue-Ray discs, and last week the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that three men plead guilty to charges involving the violation that were filed in Knoxville, Tennessee.
According to a release by the DOJ, Morris Sutton, Emmanuel Hourizadeh and Raymond Nouvahian were charged with conspiring with others to fix DVD and Blue-Rat Discs between as early as November 2017 through Oct. 29, 2019. They are the second, third and fourth to be charged and plead guilty in what has been an ongoing investigation.
“As American consumers increasingly turn to e-commerce, it is critically important to deter, detect and prosecute crimes that prevent fair and open competition in online marketplaces,” said Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Kanter of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division. “These charges demonstrate the Antitrust Division’s continued commitment to prosecuting anticompetitive conduct wherever it may occur.”
The release stated that there was one-count information that charged each individual, who were charged for agreeing to raise and maintain the prices of the items sold in the Marketplace, which allows third party vendors to sell new or used products.
The violation is through the Sherman Act and has a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a $1 million criminal fine. The fine may be increased to twice the gain from the crime, or twice the loss that has been suffered by any victims.
The case is being prosecuted by the Antitrust Division Chicago, which investigated the crime. Also involved in the investigation was the FBI New York office and USPS OIG’s Contract Fraud Investigations Division.
“We are gratified to have contributed to this investigation and applaud the exceptional work by the investigative team for both protecting the individual consumer and the deterrence of activities in violation of the Sherman Act,” said Special Agent in Charge Ken Cleevely of the U.S. Postal Service, Office of Inspector General (USPS OIG). “Along with our law enforcement partners, the USPS OIG will continue to aggressively investigate those who would engage in this type of harmful conduct.”
Anyone with information regarding price fixing of products sold on Amazon Marketplace can contact the Antitrust Division’s Chicago Office at 312-984-7200; the Antitrust Division’s Citizen Complaint Center at 888-647-3258 or the FBI New York Office at 212-384-1000. It can also be done online at justice.gov/atr/contact/newcase.html.
