The Economic Crime Division of the National Commissioner of Police today carried out searches at the premises of Byko hf., Húsasmiðjan hf. and Úlfurinn, in cooperation with the Competition Authority.
Alleged breaches of the competition law prohibition on competitors' collusion regarding, inter alia, prices, tendering and market sharing are under investigation. Under Article 41a of the Competition Act No. 44/2005 It subjects company employees to fines or imprisonment for up to six years if they carry out, encourage or allow collusion between competitors, including on prices.
The Director of Public Prosecutions' investigation focuses on the alleged offences of the companies' employees and is based on a complaint from the Competition Authority, as these offences are investigated by the police following a complaint from the Authority.
Concurrent with the police investigation into alleged offences by the companies' employees, the Competition Authority is investigating a possible breach by the companies concerned of the ban on illegal collusion, an offence which can result in, amongst other things, administrative fines for the companies.
The above-mentioned search operations were carried out in cooperation with the Competition Authority, as the provisions of Article 42 of the Competition Act permit cooperation and the exchange of information between the police and the Competition Authority.
During the searches, documents and items were seized for the purposes of the investigation. In conjunction with the searches, nineteen employees of the companies were arrested and taken in for questioning. Those interviews have now concluded and the employees concerned are free to go.
The researchers now have to process the data and information that has been gathered.
During the operation, the National Commissioner of Police and the Competition Authority were assisted by staff from the Special Prosecutor, the Metropolitan Police Commissioner and the South Meðras Police Commissioner.
The National Police Commissioner / The Competition Authority, 8 March 2011
"*" indicates required fields
