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TALLAHASSEE, FL – Attorney General Bill McCollum today announced that several public port authorities in Florida will receive a total of $707,000 from a settlement with marine product manufacturer Virginia Harbor Services, Inc. and its predecessor Trelleborg Engineered Products, Inc. The settlement resolves allegations that the companies conspired to allocate business, rig bids and fix prices of marine equipment. The conduct allegedly caused Florida ports and governmental entities to pay excessive prices for the equipment.

According to the lawsuit, Trelleborg sold foam-filled marine fenders and buoys to public port authorities in Florida for prices that were unlawfully inflated by collusion, bidding and price-fixing. The settlement and preceding investigation by the Attorney General’s Office evolved from a whistleblower complaint that alleged the conduct violated the Florida False Claims Act.

Virginia Harbor Services, Inc. and its predecessor, Trelleborg Engineered Products, Inc., along with numerous former executive officers, have pled guilty to various federal criminal charges arising from the anticompetitive pricing conduct.

As a result of the settlement, Miami-Dade County will receive $527,000; the Port of Palm Beach will receive $113,000; the Tampa Port Authority will receive $52,000; and the City of Key West will receive $15,000. Virginia Harbor Services, Inc. is also prohibited from entering into or performing any agreement with its competitors to fix prices or rig bids on marine products in Florida and will be required to implement and maintain an antitrust compliance program.