Those responsible should be behind bars
BAYER has been convicted in a multitude of cases involving cartel offences. In 2005 alone, the company had to pay EUR 275 million in fines. Only when the responsible directors fear custodial sentences can a deterrent effect be assumed.
The Coalition Against BAYER Dangers believes that the majority of illegal price fixing remains undiscovered. In the end it is consumers and taxpayers who pay the bill. It is unacceptable that those responsible for fraud worth millions are not criminally prosecuted.
The great extent of such cartel arrangements and the precautions taken with the accounting prove that there is a systematic business policy at work here. It is unthinkable that decisions of this magnitude were taken without the knowledge of the Chairman. The Bayer management is therefore guilty of embezzlement.
On the political level there have been efforts to bring those responsible in the company to justice. The EU Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes assesses private lawsuits against cartels as a central means of fighting illegal price-fixing. After imposing a EUR 58 million fine on BAYER Kroes stated that “cartels are a scourge. I will ensure that cartels will continue to be tracked down, prosecuted and punished.
Recent cartels involving Bayer:
=> Pharma companies in Romania fined EUR 12 mln for export stop agreement
=> Bayer to pay $97.5 million to settle kickback probe
=> German antitrust agency searches Bayer for illegal price-fixing of aspirin
=> EU Commission fines four firms 75.86 million for rubber chemical cartel
=> Bayer fined 10.34 million euros by German Cartel Office
=> Commission fines synthetic rubber producers 34.2 million
=> BAYER CORPORATION AGREES TO PLEAD GUILTY TO PARTICIPATING IN A CHEMICAL ADDITIVE CARTEL
=> Former Top Bayer Executives Indicted in Price-Fixing Conspiracy
=> Bayer, Roche, ADM: EU COMMISSION FINES FIVE COMPANIES IN CITRIC ACID CARTEL
=> Class action nixed in alleged price-fixing case
=> Portugal regulator fines Abbott, Bayer, others for price fixing
=> Bayer AG Agrees to Plead Guilty and Pay $66 Million Fine for Rubber Cartel
Please also see the charge brought against BAYER by CBG (German)