A former president of a Puerto Rican steel distributor has pleaded guilty to his part in a major price-fixing conspiracy.
Edgardo Sola Colon (Sola), of Toa Alta, Puerto Rico was charged, according to court documents by the U.S. District Court in San Juan. According to the results of the court’s actions $50 million in sales by his companies were affected by the price-fixing conspiracy.
According to the court statements, across seven years Sola allegedly “conspired with competing companies and individuals to suppress and eliminate competition by fixing prices for steel products, including rebar, which were distributed to hardware stores, building contractors and other businesses and individuals in Puerto Rico, resulting in substantial profits to the conspirators.”
This breached the Sherman Act, a serious existing federal antitrust statute, bringing the Justice Department’s wrath down upon the former president of the steel company. Sola would then plead guilty and face a possible 10 years in prison and a $1 million criminal fine.
Former steel president charged with conspiracy
“In pleading guilty, this defendant admitted to a long-running agreement to fix prices on rebar, a critical component of the construction supply chain for Puerto Rico,” said Deputy Assistant Attorney General Manish Kumar of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division.
Sola conducted the alleged fraud as head of one of the largest distributors of rebar in Puerto Rico. Rebar is an integral part of construction for residential housing and offices and comes primarily from outside the island.
According to documentation and evidence in the court, he and his coconspirators said that they were discussing fixing prices for the industrial material. They also discussed raising the prices as a collective. The court report stated that in December 2020 Sola sent to Juan Carlos Aponte, “an executive at a competing company, a chat message with the price of Turkish rebar, and Aponte responded, “The position is the following: Platform $33.95, 10 bundles $34.50, Fewer than 10 bundles: $34.95” before asking, “The question is are we on the same page?” Sola responded, “Yes, that is what I am doing.”
Image: Pixlr.
