FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE AT FRIDAY, APRIL 19, 1996 (202) 616-2771 TDD (202) 514-1888 NIAGARA FALLS METALS PRODUCER INDICTED IN NATIONWIDE PRICE FIXING CONSPIRACY WASHINGTON, D.C. -- A federal grand jury in Buffalo, New York, returned an indictment today against a Niagara Falls, New York metals producer and its executive vice president for participating in two separate nationwide price fixing conspiracies involving products used to make steel, cast iron and aluminum, said the Department of Justice. The Department's Antitrust Division filed a two-count felony indictment in U.S. District Court in Buffalo, New York, against SKW Metals & Alloys Inc. and Charles Zak for conspiring to fix prices of commodity ferrosilicon products from late 1989 until mid 1991 and, for conspiring to fix prices of silicon metal from the spring of 1991 until late 1992. Commodity ferrosilicon products are alloys of iron and silicon, used primarily in the production of steel and cast iron to improve the properties of the finished product such as its strength and corrosion resistance. Silicon metal is used as an alloying agent in the production of secondary and primary aluminum. Annual U.S. sales of both commodity ferrosilicon products and silicon metal are more than $100 million. Anne K. Bingaman, Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Antitrust Division, said the charges resulted from a grand jury investigation in Buffalo, New York, into suspected collusion by companies in the ferroalloys industry. The investigation was conducted by the Division's New York Field Office with the assistance of the Buffalo Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The maximum penalty for a corporation convicted of a violation of the Sherman Act is a fine of $10 million, twice the pecuniary gain the corporation derived from the crime, or twice the pecuniary loss suffered by the victims of the crime, whichever is greater. The maximum penalty for an individual convicted of a violation of the Sherman Act is three years in jail and a fine of $350,000, twice the pecuniary gain the individual derived from the crime, or twice the pecuniary loss suffered by the victims of the crime, whichever is greater. ### 96-178