On March 15, the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals upheld the conviction of Ian Norris for obstruction of justice, concluding a 10-year pursuit of the British executive by the United States Department of Justice, Antitrust Division. (United States v. Norris). The Antitrust Division’s use of extradition, obstruction of justice statutes and waiver of attorney-client privilege illustrate some of the tools used by the government to aggressively prosecute price-fixing.
Norris, a citizen and resident of the United Kingdom and the former CEO of a British multinational company, Morgan Crucible Co., was implicated in a worldwide conspiracy to fix the price of carbon brushes used in electrical wiring in automobiles. Morgan’s U.S. subsidiary, Morganite Inc., pleaded guilty to price-fixing. In addition, Morgan and three of its executives also pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice. The obstruction charges were based on document destruction and false information Norris, and others, provided to the company’s attorney, who unwittingly passed them on to the government under the assumption that they were true and legitimate.
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