Indictment

The Grand Jury charges that:

COUNT ONE

1. UWE BANGERT is hereby indicted and made a defendant on the charge contained in this Indictment.

2. Beginning at least as early as 1999 and continuing until as late as May 2007, the exact dates being unknown to the Grand Jury, in Broward and Monroe Counties in the Southern District of Florida, and elsewhere, co-conspirators of the defendant,

UWE BANGERT,

did enter into and engage in a combination and conspiracy to suppress and eliminate competition by rigging bids, fixing prices, and allocating market shares for sales of marine hose in the United States and elsewhere. The combination and conspiracy was in unreasonable restraint of interstate and foreign trade and commerce in violation of Section 1 of the Sherman Act (15 U.S.C. § 1).

3. The defendant, UWE BANGERT, joined and participated in the charged conspiracy from at least as early as December 2000 until at least July 31, 2002.

4. The charged combination and conspiracy consisted of a continuing agreement, understanding and concert of action among the defendant, UWE BANGERT, and co-conspirators, the substantial terms of which were to rig bids, fix prices and allocate market shares for sales of marine hose in the United States and elsewhere.

5. For the purpose of forming and carrying out the charged combination and conspiracy, the defendant, UWE BANGERT, and co-conspirators did those things that they combined and conspired to do, including, among other things:

1. attended meetings and engaged in discussions in the United States and elsewhere by telephone, facsimile and electronic mail regarding the sale of marine hose;
2. agreed during those meetings and discussions to allocate shares of the marine hose market among the conspirators;
3. agreed during those meetings and discussions to a price list for marine hose in order to implement and monitor the conspiracy;
4. agreed during those meetings and discussions not to compete for one another's customers either by not submitting prices or bids to certain customers or by submitting intentionally high prices or bids to certain customers;
5. submitted bids in accordance with the agreements reached;
6. provided information received from customers in the United States and elsewhere about upcoming marine hose jobs to a co-conspirator who was not an employee of any of the marine hose manufacturers, but served as the coordinator of the conspiracy and acted as a clearinghouse for information to be shared among the conspirators;
7. sold marine hose to customers in the United States and elsewhere pursuant to those agreements at collusive and noncompetitive prices;
8. accepted payment for marine hose sold in the United States and elsewhere at collusive and noncompetitive prices;
9. authorized or consented to the participation of subordinate employees in the conspiracy; and/or
10. concealed the conspiracy and conspiratorial contacts through various means, including code names and use of private e-email accounts and telephone numbers.

6. From at least as early as December 2000 until at least July 2002, the defendant, UWE BANGERT, was an executive of a German company which had acquired a marine hose manufacturer based in Grimsby, England. During the period set forth in this Indictment, this United Kingdom company sold marine hose to customers in the United States and elsewhere.

7. Various corporations and individuals, not made defendants in this Indictment, participated as co-conspirators in the offense charged herein and performed acts and made statements in furtherance thereof.

8. Marine hose is a flexible rubber hose used to transfer oil between tankers and storage facilities and/or buoys. During the period covered by this Indictment, the conspirator firms shipped marine hose in a continuous and uninterrupted flow of interstate and foreign commerce to companies located in states and countries outside the place of origin of the shipments. In addition, substantial quantities of related equipment, as well as payments for marine hose, traveled in interstate and foreign commerce. The victims of this conspiracy included companies involved in the off-shore extraction and/or transportation of petroleum products and the United States Department of Defense.

9. During the period covered by this Indictment, the business activities of the defendant, UWE BANGERT, and his co-conspirators in connection with the manufacture and/or sale of marine hose that are the subject of this Indictment were within the flow of, and substantially affected, interstate and foreign trade and commerce. During the conspiracy, the defendant, UWE BANGERT, and co-conspirators sold hundreds of millions of dollars worth of marine hose and related products.

10. The combination and conspiracy charged in this Indictment was carried out, in part, within the Southern District of Florida within the five years preceding the return of this Indictment.

All in violation of Title 15, United States Code, Section 1.