Acceptance of personal fine marks the end of plumbing sector cartel cases

By senior intern Martin Lars Mols Jensen

The Danish Competition and Consumer Authority says in a statement that it considers the acceptance of this fine the end of the cases about the exchanging of price information between plumbers. The actions were brought by the Authority in 2015 on the basis of a tip which led to investigations and ultimately a report to the Danish State Prosecutor for Serious Economic and International Crime requesting criminal charges.

The previous cases concerned bid rigging in connection with building contracts, where, among others, Christoffersen & Knudsen A/S pleaded guilty of bid rigging and accepted a penalty of DKK 575,000. Three senior employees of Christoffersen & Knudsen A/S, Fredensborg VVS-Teknik A/S and Sanoterm Danmark A/S (now in bankruptcy) also pleaded guilty and paid personal fines of DKK 25,000 each. Our previous news article "Corporate and personal fines for cartel activities in the plumbing sector" offers additional insight into these cases. In another case, Fredensborg VVS-Teknik A/S accepted a penalty of DKK 1,000,000 in the summer of 2017.

Plumbing sector cartel cases - closure
The fine now agreed to concerns illegal exchange of information on prices and other terms with competitor Fredensborg VVS Teknik A/S back in April 2013 in connection with the project “New Cruise Terminal”. The senior employee accepted a personal fine of DKK 100,000. The amount of this fine ‒ unlike the previous three personal fines ‒ was determined on the basis of the increased levels that took effect on 1 March 2013, the violation having occurred after that date.

Thus, a total of six corporate or personal fines were issued, totalling DKK 1.75 million.