Mercedes-Benz UK offices raided by OFT in price-fixing investigation

The UK offices of Mercedes-Benz have been raided by competition authorities as part of a criminal investigation into alleged price fixing in the commercial vehicle market. The Office of Fair Trading confirmed this morning that it had conducted the searches earlier this week, and that one individual was arrested and bailed. The OFT is also understood to be seeking information from Sweden's Scania and MAN of Germany, as part of a wide-ranging investigation into a suspected cartel that may have pushed up the price of trucks. The investigation is taking place under the Enterprise Act 2002 – which includes criminal powers – and the Competition Act 1998. "The investigations are at an early stage. The OFT will not be in a position to conclude whether it considers the law has been infringed until it has completed its investigations and assessed the available evidence," said an OFT spokesman this morning. Mercedes-Benz UK confirmed that the OFT had conducted an on-site investigation at its offices in Tongwell, Milton Keynes, as part of an investigation into the UK commercial vehicle market. "Of course Mercedes-Benz is fully co-operating with the investigation which may take many months or more to complete," the company said. It is rare for the OFT to file criminal charges under the Enterprise Act. It brought its first prosecution in 2007, which resulted in three businessmen being jailed for their role in a cartel that distorted the marine hose market. The OFT also used the Enterprise Act to prosecute British Airways executives for price fixing. That case, though, collapsed ignominiously in May this year amid claims that the OFT had relied too heavily on whistleblowers. An individual can be jailed for up to five years if found guilty of dishonestly fixing the price of goods or services, while a company can be fined up to 10% of its worldwide turnover .