National

8-Year Probe Into Alleged Chocolate Price-Fixing Ends After Charges Stayed

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 18 Nov, 2015 11:06 AM

OTTAWA — An eight-year investigation into allegations of price fixing in the chocolate candy business has concluded after charges against Nestle Canada and a former executive were stayed.

The Public Prosecution Service of Canada entered a stay of proceedings Tuesday against the company and former president Robert Leonidas, who were accused of conspiring to fix chocolate prices between 2002 and 2008.

No reason was give for the Crown's decision.

Two months ago, prosecutors also abandoned charges against Mars Canada, former Nestle Canada executive Sandra Martinez, distributor ITWAL Ltd. and its former CEO, David Glenn Stevens.

Hershey Canada, the only company convicted in the case, pleaded guilty in June 2013 to price-fixing and was fined $4 million.

Hershey had co-operated in the Competition Bureau's investigation and the regulator recommended the company receive lenient treatment in return.

The charges stem from an investigation launched in July 2007 after the bureau was contacted by Cadbury Adams Canada Inc. under the bureau's immunity program.

The bureau says it now considers the investigation closed.

Prev Next

MORE National ARTICLES

Preliminary Inquiry Resumes In Case Involving Alleged Plot To Attack Halifax Mall

Twenty-three-year-old Lindsay Kantha Souvannarath of Geneva, Ill., and 21-year-old Randall Steven Shepherd of Halifax are each charged with conspiracy to commit murder, conspiracy to commit arson,

Preliminary Inquiry Resumes In Case Involving Alleged Plot To Attack Halifax Mall

Saskatchewan Evacuees Say Not Enough Food, Blankets At Alberta Evacuation Centre

COLD LAKE, Alta. — Some people who had to flee their homes due to a fast-approaching forest fire in northern Saskatchewan say the evacuation centre they are staying at in Alberta is lacking basic amenities.

Saskatchewan Evacuees Say Not Enough Food, Blankets At Alberta Evacuation Centre

B.C. Government Approves Construction Projects For $9-Billion Site C Hydro Dam

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — The British Columbia government has granted approval for the first phase of construction to start on the massive Site C hydroelectric dam project on the Peace River.

B.C. Government Approves Construction Projects For $9-Billion Site C Hydro Dam

Quebec To Go To Court To Challenge National Securities Regulator

QUEBEC — The Quebec government says it will ask the province's top court to rule on the constitutionality of Ottawa's plan to create a national securities regulator.

Quebec To Go To Court To Challenge National Securities Regulator

Kitimat's Cleaner, More Productive Smelter Pours First Aluminum

KITIMAT, B.C. — A ceremonial first pour of molten metal at Rio Tinto Alcan's aluminum plant Tuesday marked the completion of a multibillion-dollar modernization project in the northern British Columbia community of Kitimat.

Kitimat's Cleaner, More Productive Smelter Pours First Aluminum

B.C. Plane Crash Sends One To Hospital, Closes Highway 97 In Southern Okanagan

Spokesman Bill Yearwood says the plane ended up on Highway 97 near Osoyoos on Tuesday evening and its only occupant escaped before flames engulfed the aircraft.