Feds Charge Bumble Bee Tuna CEO With Price Fixing

The Associated Press reports:

U.S. prosecutors filed a criminal charge Wednesday against the CEO of Bumble Bee Foods as part of an ongoing investigation into price fixing in the packaged seafood industry.

A grand jury in San Francisco indicted Christopher Lischewski on one count of price fixing, alleging that from November 2010 to December 2013 he conspired with others in the industry to eliminate competition by setting prices for canned tuna.

Three other people, including a former StarKist tuna company executive, have previously been charged. Stephen Hodge, a former senior vice president for sales at StarKist, pleaded guilty last year to price-fixing.

Last year Bumble Bee agreed to pay a $25 million fine for the scheme. Lischewski used to work for StarKist. Prison sentences for high-profile price fixing cases have averaged about two years.