Top 100 Corporate Criminals of the Decade - by Russell Mokhiber


INTRODUCTION

Every year, the major business magazines put out their annual surveys of big business in America.

You have the Fortune 500, the Forbes 400, the Forbes Platinum 100, the International 800 -- among others.

These lists rank big corporations by sales, assets, profits and market share. The point of these surveys is simple -- to identify and glorify the biggest and most profitable corporations.

The point of the list contained in this report, The Top 100 Corporate Criminals of the Decade -- is to focus public attention on a wave of corporate criminality that has swamped prosecutors offices around the country.

This is the dark underside of the marketplace that is given little sustained attention and analysis by politicians and news outlets.

To compile The Top 100 Corporate Criminals of the 1990s, we used the most narrow and conservative of definitions -- corporations that have pled guilty or no contest to crimes and have been criminally fined.

The 100 corporate criminals fell into 14 categories of crime: Environmental (38), antitrust (20), fraud (13), campaign finance (7), food and drug (6), financial crimes (4), false statements (3), illegal exports (3), illegal boycott (1), worker death (1), bribery (1), obstruction of justice (1) public corruption (1), and tax evasion (1).

We did not try to assess and compare the damage committed by these corporate criminals or by other corporate wrongdoers.

There are millions of Americans who care about morality in the marketplace.

But few Americans realize that when they buy Exxon stock, or when they fill up at an Exxon gas station, they are in fact supporting a criminal recidivist corporation.

And few Americans realize that when the take a ride on a cruise ship owned by Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, they are riding on a ship owned by a criminal recidivist corporation.

Six corporations that made the list of the Top 100 Corporate Criminals were criminal recidivist companies during the 1990s.

In addition to Exxon and Royal Caribbean, Rockwell International, Warner-Lambert, Teledyne, and United Technologies each pled guilty to more than one crime during the 1990s.



A few caveats about this report.

Caveat one: Big companies that are criminally prosecuted represent only the tip of a very large iceberg of corporate wrongdoing.

For every company convicted of health care fraud, there are hundreds of others who get away with ripping off Medicare and Medicaid, or face only mild slap-on-the-wrist fines and civil penalties when caught.

For every company convicted of polluting the nation's waterways, there are many others who are not prosecuted because their corporate defense lawyers are able to offer up a low-level employee to go to jail in exchange for a promise from prosecutors not to touch the company or high-level executives.

For every corporation convicted of bribery or of giving money directly to a public official in violation of federal law, there are thousands who give money legally through political action committees to candidates and political parties. They profit from a system that effectively has legalized bribery.

For every corporation convicted of selling illegal pesticides, there are hundreds more who are not prosecuted because their lobbyists have worked their way in Washington to ensure that dangerous pesticides remain legal.

For every corporation convicted of reckless homicide in the death of a worker, there are hundreds of others that don't even get investigated for reckless homicide when a worker is killed on the job. Only a few district attorneys across the country (Michael McCann, the DA in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, being one) regularly investigate workplace deaths as homicides.



Caveat two: Corporations define the laws under which they live.

For example, the automobile industry over the past 30 years has worked its will on Congress to block legislation that would impose criminal sanctions on knowing and willful violations of the federal auto safety laws. Now, if an auto company is caught violating the law, and if the cops are not asleep at the wheel, only a civil fine is imposed.



Caveat three: Because of their immense political power, big corporations have the resources to defend themselves in courts of law and in the court of public opinion.

Few prosecutors are willing to subject themselves to the constant legal and public relations barrage that a corporation's well connected and high-priced legal talent can inflict.

It is a testament to the tenacity of a few dedicated federal prosecutors that Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, for example, was criminally convicted of polluting the oceans.

In the criminal prosecution of Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines the company was facing a team of two federal criminal prosecutors.

To defend itself, Royal Caribbean hired Judson Starr and Jerry Block, both of whom have served as head of the Justice Department's Environmental Crimes Section, and former Attorney General Benjamin Civiletti.

Also representing Royal Caribbean were former federal prosecutors Kenneth C. Bass III, and Norman Moscowitz. Donald Carr of Winthrop & Stimson also joined the defense team.

Hired on as experts on international law issues were former Attorney General Eliot Richardson, University of Virginia law professor John Norton Moore, former State Department officials Terry Leitzell and Bernard Oxman, and four retired senior admirals.

As the case proceeded to trial, Royal Caribbean engaged in a massive public relations campaign, taking out ads during the Super Bowl, putting former Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrators on its board of directors, and donating thousands of dollars to environmental groups.

Federal prosecutors overcame this legal and public relations barrage and convicted the company. But that was an unusual prosecution and unusually determined prosecutors.



While the 1990s was a decade of booming markets and booming profits, it was also a decade of rampant corporate criminality.

There is an emerging consensus among corporate criminologists.

And that emerging consensus is this: corporate crime and violence inflicts far more damage on society than all street crime combined.

The FBI estimates, for example, that burglary and robbery -- street crimes -- costs the nation $3.8 billion a year.

Compare this to the hundreds of billions of dollars stolen from Americans as a result of corporate and white-collar fraud.

Health care fraud alone costs Americans $100 billion to $400 billion a year.

The savings and loan fraud -- which former Attorney General Dick Thornburgh called "the biggest white collar swindle in history" -- cost us anywhere from $300 billion to $500 billion.

And then you have your lesser frauds: auto repair fraud, $40 billion a year, securities fraud, $15 billion a year -- and on down the list.

Recite this list of corporate frauds and people will immediately say to you: but you can't compare street crime and corporate crime -- corporate crime is not violent crime.

Unfortunately, corporate crime is often violent crime.

The FBI estimates that, 19,000 Americans are murdered every year.

Compare this to the 56,000 Americans who die every year on the job or from occupational diseases such as black lung and asbestosis and the tens of thousands of other Americans who fall victim to the silent violence of pollution, contaminated foods, hazardous consumer products, and hospital malpractice.

These deaths are often the result of criminal recklessness. They are sometimes prosecuted as homicides or as criminal violations of federal laws.

And environmental crimes often result in death, disease and injury.

In 1998, for example, a Tampa, Florida company and the company's plant manager were found guilty of violating a federal hazardous waste law. Those illegal acts resulted in the deaths of two nine-year-old boys who were playing in a dumpster at the company's facility.



This report is only a tiny step in an effort to fill a great void in corporate crime research.

The Justice Department has the information and should get the budget to begin putting out yearly reports on corporate crime.

Every year, the Justice Department puts out an annual report titled "Crime in the United States."

But by "Crime in the United States," the Justice Department means "street crime in the United States."

So, in "Crime in the United States" document you will read about burglary, robbery and theft. There is nothing in it about price-fixing, corporate fraud, pollution, or public corruption.

A yearly Justice Department report on Corporate Crime in the United States is long overdue.



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THE TOP 100 CORPORATE CRIMINALS OF THE 1990's

1) F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd.
Type of Crime: Antitrust
Criminal Fine: $500 million
12 Corporate Crime Reporter 21(1), May 24, 1999

2) Daiwa Bank Ltd.
Type of Crime: Financial
Criminal Fine: $340 million
10 Corporate Crime Reporter 9(3), March 4, 1996

3) BASF Aktiengesellschaft
Type of Crime: Antitrust
Criminal Fine: $225 million
12 Corporate Crime Reporter 21(1), May 24, 1999

4) SGL Carbon Aktiengesellschaft (SGL AG)
Type of Crime: Antitrust
Criminal Fine: $135 million
12 Corporate Crime Reporter 19(4), May 10, 1999

5) Exxon Corporation and Exxon Shipping
Type of Crime: Environmental
Criminal Fine: $125 million
5 Corporate Crime Reporter 11(3), March 18, 1991

6) UCAR International, Inc.
Type of Crime: Antitrust
Criminal Fine: $110 million
12 Corporate Crime Reporter 15(6), April 13, 1998

7) Archer Daniels Midland
Type of Crime: Antitrust
Criminal Fine: $100 million
10 Corporate Crime Reporter 40(1), October 21, 1996

8)(tie) Banker's Trust
Type of Crime: Financial
Criminal Fine: $60 million
12 Corporate Crime Reporter 11(1), March 15, 1999

8)(tie) Sears Bankruptcy Recovery Management Services
Type of Crime: Fraud
Criminal Fine: $60 million
13 Corporate Crime Reporter 7(1), February 15, 1999

10) Haarman & Reimer Corp.
Type of Crime: Antitrust
Criminal fine: $50 million
11 Corporate Crime Reporter 5(4), February 3, 1997

11) Louisiana-Pacific Corporation
Type of Crime: Environmental
Criminal Fine: $37 million
12 Corporate Crime Reporter 23(1), June 8, 1998

12) Hoechst AG
Type of Crime: Antitrust
Criminal Fine: $36 million
12 Corporate Crime Reporter 19(6), May 10, 1999

13) Damon Clinical Laboratories, Inc.
Type of Crime: Fraud
Criminal Fine: $35.2 million
10 Corporate Crime Reporter 39(6), October 14, 1996

14) C.R. Bard Inc.
Type of Crime: Food and drug
Criminal Fine: $30.9 million
7 Corporate Crime Reporter 41(1), October 25, 1993

15) Genentech Inc.
Type of Crime: Food and drug
Criminal Fine: $30 million
12 Corporate Crime Reporter 16(3), April 19, 1999

16) Nippon Gohsei
Type of Crime: Antitrust
Criminal Fine: $21 million
12 Corporate Crime Reporter 29(3), July 19, 1999

17)(tie) Pfizer Inc.
Type of Crime: Antitrust
Criminal Fine: $20 million
12 Corporate Crime Reporter 30(1), July 26, 1999

17)(tie) Summitville Consolidated Mining Co. Inc.
Type of Crime: Environmental
Criminal Fine: $20 million
10 Corporate Crime Reporter 20(3) May 20, 1996

19)(tie) Lucas Western Inc.
Type of Crime: False Statements
Criminal Fine: $18.5 million
9 Corporate Crime Reporter 4(6), January 30, 1995

19)(tie) Rockwell International Corporation
Type of Crime: Environmental
Criminal Fine: $18.5 million
6 Corporate Crime Reporter 13(4), March 30, 1992

21) Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.
Type of Crime: Environmental
Criminal Fine: $18 million
12 Corporate Crime Reporter 30(4), July 26, 1999

22) Teledyne Industries Inc.
Type of Crime: Fraud
Criminal Fine: $17.5 million
6 Corporate Crime Reporter 39(9), October 12, 1992

23) Northrop
Type of Crime: False statements
Criminal Fine: $17 million
4 Corporate Crime Reporter 9(1), March 5, 1990

24) Litton Applied Technology Division (ATD) and Litton Systems Canada (LSL)
Type of Crime: Fraud
Criminal Fine: $16.5 million
12 Corporate Crime Reporter 27(1), July 5, 1999

25) Iroquois Pipeline Operating Company
Type of Crime: Environmental
Criminal Fine: $15 million
10 Corporate Crime Reporter 22(1), June 3, 1996

26) Eastman Chemical Company
Type of Crime: Antitrust
Criminal Fine: $11 million
12 Corporate Crime Reporter 38(5), October 5, 1998

27) Copley Pharmaceutical, Inc.
Type of Crime: Food and drug
Criminal Fine: $10.65 million
11 Corporate Crime Reporter 22(1), June 2, 1997

28) Lonza AG
Type of Crime: Antitrust
Criminal Fine: $10.5 million
12 Corporate Crime Reporter 10(1), March 8, 1999

29) Kimberly Home Health Care Inc.
Type of Crime: Fraud
Criminal Fine: $10.08 million
12 Corporate Crime Reporter 30(6), July 26, 1999

30)(tie) Ajinomoto Co. Inc.
Type of Crime: Antitrust
Criminal Fine: $10 million
10 Corporate Crime Reporter 40(1), October 21, 1996

30)(tie) Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI)
Type of Crime: Financial
Criminal Fine: $10 million
4 Corporate Crime Reporter 3(1) January 22, 1990

30)(tie) Kyowa Hakko Kogyo Co. Ltd.
Type of Crime: Antitrust
Criminal Fine: $10 million
10 Corporate Crime Reporter 40(1), October 21, 1996

30)(tie) Warner-Lambert Company
Type of Crime: Food and drug
Criminal Fine: $10 million
9 Corporate Crime Reporter 46(1), December 4, 1995

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30)(tie) Kyowa Hakko Kogyo Co. Ltd.
Type of Crime: Antitrust
Criminal Fine: $10 million
10 Corporate Crime Reporter 40(1), October 21, 1996


Kyowa Hakko Kogyo Co. Ltd. pleaded guilty to suppressing and eliminating competition in the lysine market from June 1992 through June 27, 1995 in violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act.

Lysine is an amino acid used by farmers as a feed additive to ensure the proper growth of livestock. It is a $600 million a year industry worldwide.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 15, 1996
AT
(202) 616-2771
TDD (202) 514-1888



ARCHER DANIELS MIDLAND CO. TO PLEAD GUILTY AND PAY $100 MILLION FOR ROLE IN TWO INTERNATIONAL PRICE-FIXING CONSPIRACIES

Largest Criminal Antitrust Fine Ever



WASHINGTON, D.C. Є Archer Daniels Midland Co. today has agreed to plead guilty and pay a $100 million criminal fineЄthe largest criminal antitrust fine everЄfor its role in two international conspiracies to fix prices to eliminate competition and allocate sales in the lysine and citric acid markets worldwide, the Department of Justice announced today.


"This $100 million criminal fine should send a message to the entire world," said Attorney General Janet Reno. "If you engage in collusive behavior that robs U.S. consumers, there will be vigorous investigation and tough, tough penalties."


The Department said that feed companies, large poultry and swine producersЄand ultimately farmersЄpaid millions more to buy the lysine additive. Also, the Department said that manufacturers of soft drinks, processed foods, detergents, and others, paid millions more to buy the citric acid additive, which ultimately caused consumers to pay more for those products.


Today's charges arose in connection with extensive investigations into illegal, collusive practices by the producers of lysine and citric acid being conducted by the Chicago and San Francisco Field Offices of the Antitrust Division, the office of United States Attorney James B. Burns in Chicago, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Springfield,Illinois and San Francisco, California.


Lysine is an amino acid used by farmers as a feed additive to ensure the proper growth of livestock. It is a $600 million a year industry worldwide. Citric acid is a flavor additive and preservative produced from various sugars.It is found in soft drinks, processed food, detergents, pharmaceutical and cosmetic products. Citric acid is a $1.2 billion a year industry worldwide.


These are the Department's second round of charges brought as a result of its ongoing antitrust investigation into the food and feed additives industries.In August, two Japanese and one U.S.-based Korean subsidiary and their executives agreed to pay more than $20 million in criminal fines for their participation in the lysine conspiracy.


"These fines should signal to corporations throughout the world that they had better take a hard look at their own behavior," said Joel I. Klein, Acting Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Antitrust Division. "We have reason to believe that international cartels are by no means rare.We will vigorously pursue such violations on our own as well as in cooperation with law enforcement authorities in other countries."


The two-count felony criminal information against ADM was filed in U.S. District Court in Chicago. ADM has authorized the government to disclose the basic terms of the plea agreement pursuant to which these charges were filed. The plea agreement must be accepted by the court. As part of its plea agreement, ADM has agreed to cooperate in the ongoing government investigations.


"Two of the ADM executives receive no protection from prosecution under this plea agreement," said Gary R. Spratling, the Antitrust Division's Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Criminal Enforcement."The Department's investigation is continuing."


The felony case charges that ADM conspired with the three previously charged companiesЄAjinomoto Co. Inc., Kyowa Hakko Kogyo Co. Ltd.,Sewon America Inc.Єand other unnamed corporate and individual co-conspirators, to suppress and eliminate competition in the lysine market from June 1992 through June 27, 1995 in violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act. ADM produces lysine at its plant in Decatur, Illinois.


The case also charges ADM with conspiring with others to suppress and eliminate competition in the citric acid market from January 1993 through June 27, 1995. ADM produces citric acid at its plant in Southport, North Carolina.


"Customers in the citric acid and lysine markets were robbed of their ability to bargain for the best price. Higher prices for those products translated into higher prices for American consumers. Today's action ensures that these markets will be competitive," said James B. Burns, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois.


The felony case charges that ADM met separately with their co-conspirators in the lysine and citric acid markets to set the prices and allocate the sales volumes of those products.


The two-count felony information charges that ADM:

Agreed to charge lysine and citric acid prices at certain levels and to increase those prices accordingly.




Agreed to allocate among the corporate conspirators the volume of lysine and citric acid to be sold by each.




Issued price announcements and price quotations in accordance with the agreements.




Participated in meetings and conversations for the purpose of monitoring and enforcing adherence to the agreed-upon prices and sales volumes.


"This $100 million penaltyЄthe largest ever criminal antitrust fineЄshould put price fixers around the world on alert, if you engage in criminal collusive behavior, you will pay a high price for your illegal actions," said Klein.


The companies and individuals charged in the lysine conspiracy last month were:




Ajinomoto Co. Inc. of Tokyo, Japan, and its former General Manager of the Feed Additives Division and current Associate General Manager of the International Division, Kanji Mimoto. Mimoto lives in Japan.




Kyowa Hakko Kogyo Co. Ltd. of Tokyo, Japan, and its former General Manager of the Agricultural Products Department and current General Manager of the Food Division, Masaru Yamamoto. Yamamoto lives in Japan.




Sewon America Inc., located in Paramus, New Jersey, and its President, Jhom Su Kim.Sewon America is a subsidiary of Sewon Company Ltd., located in Seoul, South Korea.Kim is from Korea and currently lives in New Jersey.


The corporate defendants previously charged agreed to cooperate fully with the ongoing investigation by providing documents and witnesses who will be available to testify in the United States.Each of the individual defendants also agreed to cooperate with the investigation,including giving testimony in the United States. The corporate and individual defendants have begun their cooperation with the government's ongoing investigation and have provided valuable information, the Department said.


"The pleas and cooperation of the six defendants charged last month in the lysine conspiracy were highly significant in advancing the Department's investigation, which resulted in ADM's guilty plea," said Spratling.


ADM is charged with violating Section 1 of the Sherman Act, which carries a maximum fine of $10 million for corporations. The fine may be increased to twice the gain derived from the crime by the defendant or twice the loss suffered by the victims of the crime, if either of those amounts is greater than the statutory maximum fine of $10 million for corporations. The court will determine the appropriate sentence to be imposed under the United States Sentencing Guidelines.


###


96-508

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Overseas Network:-


United States of America


Kyowa Hakko Bio US Holdings, Inc.

5469 Nash Road,P.O.Box 1550,
Cape Girardeau,MO 63702-1550,U.S.A.
Tel: 1-573-335-4849

Biokyowa Inc.

5469 Nash Road,P.O.Box 1550,
Cape Girardeau,MO 63702-1550,U.S.A.
Tel: 1-573-335-4849

Kyowa Hakko U.S.A., Inc.

767 Third Avenue, 19th Floor,
New York,NY 10017,U.S.A.
Tel: 1-212-319-5353
http://www.kyowa-usa.com/

Kyowa Hakko U.S.A., Inc.
West Coast Office

85 Enterprise, Suite 430,
Aliso Viejo,CA 92656,U.S.A.
Tel: 1-949-425-0707


Europe

Kyowa Hakko Europe GmbH

Am Wehrhahn 50,
40211, Dusseldorf, Germany
Tel: 49-211-175 450
http://www.kyowa.eu/

Kyowa Italiana Farmaceutici S.R.L.

Viale Fulvio Testi 280,
20126, Milan, Italy
Tel: 39-02-644-704-1
Mail:kyowa@kyowa.it


Southeast Asia

Kyowa Hakko Industry (S) Pte Ltd

260 Orchard Road, #12-04,
The Heeren, Singapore 238855
Tel: 65-6733-4948


Kyowa Hakko (M) Sdn Bhd

20, Jalan SS19/5, Subang Jaya, 47500 Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia.
Tel: 603-5634 0669 Fax: (603) 5634 0990
Sales & Info: khsb@tm.net.my



Kyowa Hakko Bio Co., Ltd.
Mumbai Representative Office (opening soon)

Suite 701-A, MMTC House C-22,
Bandra Kurla Complex, Bandra (East)
Mumbai 400 051 India
Tel: 91-22-6725-3457


China

Kyowa Hakko Bio Co., Ltd.
Beijing Representative Office (opening soon)

Room 701, Beijing Fortune Bldg.,
5 Dong San Huan Bei-Lu,
Chao Yang District, Beijing 100004,
People's Republic of China
Tel: 86-10-6590-8515

Kyowa Hakko Bio Co., Ltd.
Shanghai Representative Office (opening soon)

Room 1712, Rui Jin Bldg.,
205 Maoming Nan Lu, Shanghai 200020,
People's Republic of China
Tel: 86-21-6466-1222

Kyowa Hakko (H.K.) Co., Ltd.

Room 1908, Hang Lung Centre,
2-20 Paterson Street,Causeway Bay, Hong Kong,
People's Republic of China
Tel: 852-2895-6795

Kyowa Hakko (H.K.) Co., Ltd.
Guangzhou Representative Office

Room 411, China Hotel Office Tower,
Liu Hua Road, Guangzhou 510015,
People's Republic of China
Tel: 86-20-8667-5381

Shanghai Kyowa Amino Acid Co., Ltd.

No.158 Xintuan Road,
Qingpu Industrial Zone, Shanghai, 201700,
People's Republic of China
Tel: 86-21-5970-1998


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Search Results
Your search : KYOWA HAKKO
Search result : 4 record(s) matched your query

No. Registration No./
Notification No. Product Name Manufacturer
1. MAL19880097A 5 FU TABLET KYOWA 100 KYOWA HAKKO KOGYO CO LTD
2. MAL19880095A LEUNASE INJECTION 10000 K.U. KYOWA HAKKO KIRIN CO., LTD.
3. MAL19880096A MITOMYCIN-C KYOWA INJECTION 10MG/VIAL KYOWA HAKKO KIRIN CO., LTD.
4. MAL19880093A MITOMYCIN-C KYOWA INJECTION 2MG/VIAL KYOWA HAKKO KIRIN CO., LTD.



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Websites - (1) http://www.usdoj.gov/atr/public/press_releases/1996/0988.htm

(2) http://www.corporatepredators.org/top100.html

(3) http://www.pharmaceutical-industry.info/modules/pharmaceutical_suppliers/kyowa-hakko-usa/kyowa-hakko-usa-about.html

(4) http://www.voy.com/206078/

(5) http://www.efreeguestbooks.com/mg/multi.pl?111247

(6) http://www.petitiononline.com/Daiichi/

(7) http://www.petitiononline.com/HRD/

(8) http://www.fqresearch.org/petition.htm

(9) http://corporateaffiliations.ecnext.com/coms2/summary_151684_ITM_Kyowa-Hakko-Malaysia-SDN-BHD

(10) http://wattahack.wordpress.com/2007/10/24/malaysian-lives-are-valuable-intro/

(11) http://www.eguide.com.my/MY/COMPANY/117138/Kyowa-Hakko-M-S/detail_all.htm?HAKKO

(12) http://superpages.com.my/sv/superhome/farmaceutiskt-detaljhandel/kyowa-hakko-m-sdn-bhd-10668.html

(13) http://www.kellysearchasia.com/my-company-366229296.html

(14) http://www.corporateregister.com/a10723/kyowa03-sust-jp.pdf

(15) http://ir.kyowa-kirin.co.jp/data/current/report-45-datafile.pdf

(16) http://www.bpfk.gov.my/search/Result.asp

(17) http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/1996/Oct96/508at.htm

(18) http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=kyowa+hakko&btnG=Search

(19) http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=kyowa+hakko&vc=&fr=yfp-t-501&toggle=1&cop=mss&ei=UTF-8&fp_ip=MY



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