Japanese police had no comment yesterday after a US federal grand jury indicted three former Japanese airline executives accused of fixing air cargo shipment rates to and from the US.
“We cannot comment on individual cases in principle. We cannot say whether we have received any request from US authorities over the case,” a National Police Department spokeswomen said.
US investigators have probed claims that in the late 1990s and early 2000s, industry members agreed to fix cargo rates on scheduled flights. The probe has now ensnared 19 airlines and 17 executives.
The latest US indictment named Takao Fukuchi, a former president of the cargo sales division of Japan Airlines (JAL), and Yoshio Kunugi and Naoshige Makino, both former senior executives of Nippon Cargo Airlines.
The two companies, which have both already faced separate charges over the bid-rigging deal, said they were unaware of the executives’ whereabouts.
“There has been no change in our previous agreement to jointly pay penalties with Nippon Cargo Airlines, but we cannot comment on the individual case as it is a matter between US authorities and them. All we can say is that our company is going to strengthen our compliance,” a JAL spokesman said.
The executives each face up to 10 years behind bars and at least US$1 million in fines if found guilty.
Other airlines accused include Air France, All Nippon Airways, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, China Airlines (中華航空), Northwest Airlines and Qantas Airways.
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