FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                          AT
TUESDAY, JUNE 4, 1996                              (202) 616-2771
                                               TDD (202) 514-1888

                                 
  FORMER NEW YORK SUPPLIER OF DISPLAY MATERIALS TO PHILIP MORRIS
        INDICTED IN BID RIGGING AND TAX FRAUD CONSPIRACIES


     WASHINGTON, D.C. -- A federal grand jury in New York City
returned a four-count bid-rigging and tax fraud indictment
yesterday against a New York executive and two of his companies
that supply display materials used to advertise and promote
products in retail stores.  

     The indictment, filed in U.S. District Court in New York
City, charged Dani Siegel of New York City and Westhampton, and
two of his companies with violating antitrust and tax laws.  The
executive and one of the companies are charged with participating
in a bid-rigging conspiracy involving contracts awarded by Philip
Morris, Inc. in New York City for the supply of display materials
used to advertise and promote products in retail stores.  The
executive and the second company are charged with participating
in a tax fraud conspiracy.  The remaining two counts charge the
executive with related tax offenses.

     The case is part of an ongoing investigation by the
Department's Antitrust Division of bid-rigging, commercial
bribery and tax-related offenses in the display industry.
   Anne K. Bingaman, Assistant Attorney General in charge of the
Justice Department's Antitrust Division said, "this indictment
reflects the Division's resolve to rout out corruption and
anticompetitive conduct in the display industry."

     The Antitrust Division filed the four-count felony
indictment charging that Mr. Siegel and Visart Mounting &
Finishing Corp., until recently headquartered in the Bronx,
engaged in the bid-rigging conspiracy beginning at least as early
as November 1987 and continuing until at least October 1991 and
charging that Siegel and Genetra Affiliates, Inc., headquartered
in Manhattan, engaged in a tax fraud conspiracy beginning as
early as the beginning of 1988 and continuing until March 1991.

     Siegel and Visart are charged with participating in a
conspiracy to rig bids and allocate contracts awarded by Philip
Morris to supply retail stores with point-of-purchase display
materials.  During the conspiracy, Visart obtained display
contracts relating to work for Philip Morris worth approximately
$5 million.

     Siegel and Genetra are charged with tax fraud in connection
with a conspiracy to raise and accumulate approximately $200,000
in cash.  The conspiracy involved a series of more than two dozen
sham transactions that were designed to overstate Genetra's
expenses, take false tax deductions and conceal cash income that
was not reported to tax authorities.  Siegel is also charged with
subscribing to false federal tax returns filed by Genetra for
1989 and 1990.

     This prosecution is the result of a grand jury investigation
being conducted by the Antitrust Division's New York field office
with the assistance of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and
the Internal Revenue Service.  To date, ten individuals and four
corporations have pleaded guilty or agreed to plead guilty to
various federal charges as a result of the Division's
investigation of the display industry.  Among the ten individuals
are the principals of AM-PM Sales Co., Inc., identified in
today's charge as co-conspirators with Siegel and Visart in the
bid-rigging conspiracy, and Bert Levine, identified as a co-conspirator in the tax fraud conspiracy.

     The maximum penalty for an individual convicted of a
violation of the Sherman Act committed after November 16, 1990,
is three years in prison and a fine not to exceed the greatest of
$350,000, twice the pecuniary gain the individual derived from
the crime or twice the pecuniary loss caused to the victim of the
crime.  The maximum penalty for a corporation convicted of a
violation of the Sherman Act continuing after November 16, 1990
is a fine not to exceed the greatest of $10 million, twice the
pecuniary gain derived from the crime or twice the pecuniary loss
caused to the victim of the crime.

     The maximum penalty for an individual convicted of
conspiracy to defraud the Internal Revenue Service or income tax
evasion is five years in prison and a fine not to exceed the
greatest of $250,000, twice the pecuniary gain the individual
derived from the crime or twice the pecuniary loss to the victims.  The maximum prison sentence for an individual convicted
of subscribing to fraudulent tax returns is three years.

     Anyone with information concerning bid rigging, bribery or
fraud in the display industry may contact the New York Division
of the FBI at (212) 384-1000.
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