The District Court of Miami gave Roberto Dip and Jason Handal jail time for their roles in a pricing-fixing scheme that occurred between September 2010 and March 2015.
The U.S. Justice Department said two freight forwarder executives were sentenced to jail in the District Court of Miami on Tuesday for their role in an illicit price-fixing scheme.
Roberto Dip and Jason Handal both were charged with fixing prices in June 2018 and pleaded guilty in November.
The scheme, which occurred between September 2010 and March 2015, involved fixing prices on forwarding services between the U.S. and overseas, the Justice Department said.
Federal agents arrested the two men at Dip Shipping’s Miami office in the summer of 2018.
The court handed Dip an 18-month prison sentence, while Handal will serve 15 months in jail. Both men also were ordered to pay a $20,000 criminal fine and are subject to three years of supervised release.
“These defendants’ conduct raised freight-forwarding prices by as much 20%, victimizing vulnerable consumers and individuals sending gifts and household goods to family members and loved ones for holidays,” said Assistant Attorney General Makan Delrahim of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division in a statement.
Dip, a Honduran citizen and legal U.S. resident, operated Dip Shipping Co., which has offices in San Pedro, Honduras, as well as New Orleans and Miami. He also was reportedly a former city councilman in La Ceiba, Honduras, and headed the Honduran soccer team, Club Deportivo Social Vida. Handal is a resident of Kenner, La.
