Post by IvarJrKreuger on Jul 11, 2004 23:51:58 GMT -5
De Beers Agrees To Guilty Plea To Reenter US Market - NYT
Saturday July 10, 2:20 AM EDT
NEW YORK -(Dow Jones)- De Beers has agreed to plead guilty to criminal price fixing, a court official involved in the case said Friday, The New York Times reports in its Saturday edition.
The company is expected to plead guilty on Tuesday before Judge George C. Smith of Federal District Court
in Columbus, Ohio, said Keith Mayton, a clerk in that court.
He said De Beers faced a maximum fine of $10 million.
"The court is set to take a guilty plea from De Beers," Mayton said, the Times reported.
The move ends a decade-long lawsuit and will allow the company to return to the U.S. market after an absence of nearly a century, the report said.
The agreement comes after months of negotiations and will allow De Beer to reestablish itself in the U.S., the most lucrative market for diamonds, as the company looks to new markets and shifts it business focus in response to its declining grip on rough diamond production, the Times report said.
De Beers Group is a 45%-held unit of Anglo American PLC (AAUK).
Dow Jones Newswires
07-10-04 0220ET
Photos for Fort à la Corne are provided courtesy of De Beers employees in Canada.