A company and its director will be sentenced next month by the Central Criminal Court for fixing car prices as a member of a cartel, in breach of the Competition Acts.
Mr Justice Liam McKechnie asked lawyers to prepare written submissions on the sentencing principles applicable to the case and listed it for sentence on February 23.
Patrick Duffy (52) is a co-director of Duffy Motors Limited, which trades as PG Duffy & Sons at Naas Road, Newbridge, County Kildare. Mr Duffy and the company pleaded guilty to entering into and implementing agreements with other Leinster car dealers to fix prices of Citroen vehicles.
Mr Duffy, who lives across the road from his business premises, pleaded guilty to two counts of, as a director of a company, authorising it to enter into and to implement an agreement with other undertakings to prevent, restrict and distort competition by directly or indirectly fixing prices of Citroen cars within the province of Leinster on dates between June 24 1997 and June 18 2002, contrary to section four of the 1991 Act and section two of the 1996 Act. He also pleaded guilty to two similar charges on behalf of the company.
Thomas Fitzpatrick, an officer with the Competition Authority, told Denis Vaughan Buckley SC, prosecuting, that Mr Duffy was a member of the Citroen Dealers' Association (CDA) which had its first meeting in April 1995 and operated in the Leinster region until 2004.
Members of the CDA agreed to implement a scheme in which prices were set by the
organisation in relation to maximum discounts from the recommended retail price, delivery charges, accessory prices, trade in values and export prices.
These agreed minimum prices were printed up and circulated to members by the secretary of the CDA. Members were urged to print up their own lists for internal use.
A 'pocket card' containing the CDA's agreed prices was developed which was half the size of an A4 sheet of paper and was laminated. It became popular because it easily fitted into a jacket pocket.
The CDA set monetary penalties for breaches of the agreement and hired 'secret shoppers' to go into dealerships and check that members were sticking to the agreement.
Fines set by the CDA ranged from £500 to £1,270 but Mr Fitzpatrick was unable to say if anyone had ever paid such a fine. Two market research companies were employed by the CDA to seek quotes from members and report back.
Mr Justice McKechnie heard that two members of the CDA were given qualified immunity by the Director of Public Prosecutions and would have given evidence of what happened at CDA meetings had this case gone to trial.
Mr Duffy was interviewed by Competition Authority officers on March 3 2004 and confirmed that he was a member of the CDA and had served as its treasurer from 2000 to 2003. He had missed only a few meetings and had been responsible, as treasurer, for paying the fees of the 'secret shoppers' employed to monitor adherence to the agreement.
The court heard that Duffy Motors Ltd had a turnover of nearly €9.4m in 2006 and nearly €9.9m in 2007 but was experiencing difficulty in the current economic climate. Sales had decreased by 14% in 2008. It employs 22 full-time staff.
Defence counsel, Hugh Mohan SC, said Mr Duffy had no previous convictions and while he attended meetings of the CDA he was not vocal at them. Mr Fitzpatrick agreed with Mr Mohan that the CDA was set up 'with other objectives in mind'.
Mr Fitzpatrick agreed that Citroen dealers had difficulty with distributors who arbitrarily cut profit margins and that their product was difficult to sell.
Mr Duffy is co director of Duffy Motors with his brother. Their father established the company in 1952 and the defendant took over in 1981.
Mr Mohan said his client was sorry for getting himself into such a situation and had not always sold vehicles in line with the CDA list. Mr Mohan said it would not have been good business sense for Mr Duffy to refuse to join the CDA.
Four character references were handed into court which described Mr Duffy as a hard working family man and valuable member of the community. Dr Noel Caffery said Mr Duffy was a 'devoted father and husband'.
Mr Justice McKechnie heard that two other members of the CDA had been prosecuted in the Circuit Criminal Courts in Dundalk and Trim for entering into agreements to fix prices. They received three-month suspended jail terms and fines of €12,000 and €20,000.
This case is the second to be dealt with by the Central Criminal Court. A previous case was dealt with in Cork and concerned Ford cars. Mr Justice McKechnie will impose sentence after written submissions are provided by counsel for the prosecution and defence.
