Ex-Bumble Bee Tuna CEO Guilty of Price-Fixing

Prosecutors say he oversaw conspiracy
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Dec 4, 2019 12:30 AM CST
Ex-Bumble Bee CEO Convicted in Tuna Price-Fixing Conspiracy
In this Feb. 26, 2008, file photo, Bumble Bee Foods President and CEO Christopher Lischewski, centes, testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington.   (AP Photo/Lauren Victoria Burke, File)

The former CEO of Bumble Bee Foods was convicted Tuesday for his part in a canned tuna price-fixing conspiracy involving the industry's top three companies. A jury in San Francisco found Christopher Lischewski guilty after a four-week trial, the US Department of Justice said in a release. He had pleaded not guilty. Prosecutors said Lischewski conspired with others in the industry to eliminate competition by setting prices for canned tuna from November 2010 until December 2013, the AP reports. Bumble Bee Foods itself agreed to pay a $25 million fine after pleading guilty to price fixing in 2017. Lischewski supervised his subordinates’ participation in the conspiracy, prosecutors said.

In September, a federal judge ordered StarKist Co. to pay a $100 million fine for its role in the collusion, which also included Chicken of the Sea. StarKist last year agreed to plead guilty to a felony price-fixing charge. One former StarKist executive and two from Bumble Bee also each pleaded guilty to price-fixing charges. All three testified at Lischewski’s trial. The scheme came to light when Chicken of the Sea's attempt to buy Bumble Bee failed in 2015, according to court records. Chicken of the Sea executives then alerted federal investigators, who agreed to shield the company from criminal prosecution in exchange for cooperation. The three companies face lawsuits from wholesalers, food service companies, and retailers.

(More tuna stories.)

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