5 Japanese Oil Distributors Indicted over Cartel

Tokyo, April 17 (Jiji Press)–The Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office indicted five Japanese oil distributors Friday over an alleged price cartel for gas oil sold to transport and other companies in Tokyo. The office acted in response to a criminal complaint filed by the Fair Trade Commission against the five, including East Japan Usami Co. of Tokyo, Eneos Wing Corp. of Nagoya, central Japan, and Enex Fleet Co. of Osaka, western Japan. It was the FTC’s first criminal complaint since February 2023, when the antimonopoly watchdog handled a bid-rigging scandal related to the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics held in 2021. The prosecutors office decided not to file criminal complaints against individuals, apparently because the cartel had continued for many years. According to the indictment, officials from the five companies allegedly agreed to raise the selling prices of gas oil and curb price reduction at meetings in Tokyo between October and December 2024. In September last year, the FTC conducted raids on eight companies including the five. Last month, the commission carried out joint searches with the prosecutors office. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]