Korean Oil Companies - Procurement Fraud/Bid-Rigging ($363 million)
Constantine Cannon represented a whistleblower in a
False Claims Act case alleging several Korean oil and transportation companies engaged in a bid-rigging scheme to artificially inflate the price the US military paid for fuel contracts for its bases in South Korea. Ultimately, five different entities paid a total of $363 million: In November 2018, SK Energy, GS Caltex, and Hanjin Transportation agreed to pay $246 million to resolve both criminal and civil claims; and in March 2019, Hyundai Oilbank and S-Oil Corporation agreed to pay $127 million to resolve both criminal and civil claims. The settlements represent the largest False Claims Act antitrust recovery ever. Our client received a whistleblower award of roughly $37 million. Read more --
WSJ,
Reuters,
Stars and Stripes,
DOJ,
CC.