The former head of Bingo Industries, a trash management company, admitted to engaging in criminal cartel behavior related to an unlawful price-fixing scheme, and as a result, he was ordered to pay $100,000 and complete 400 hours of community service.
The garbage company was fined a total of $30 million after entering a guilty plea to criminal cartel offenses related to the same scheme.
Following a competition watchdog probe, Daniel Tartak, the former managing director and CEO of the company, entered a guilty plea in 2022 to two charges related to cartel activity.
The Federal Court sentenced Tartak to two years in prison, to be spent in the community under an intense correction order. The decision was made on Friday.
Tony Tartak’s son, who founded Bingo, was likewise barred from corporate management for five years.
While Daniel Tartak was the company’s owner, Bingo reached an agreement with rival Aussie Skip Bin Services to set prices for the provision of bins for building and demolition waste in Sydney during 2019.
Judge Michael Wigney stated that the agreement probably caused clients to pay more for Bingo’s services than they otherwise would have when he handed down the punishments.
“Cartels are widely condemned as the most egregious form of anti-competitive behaviour,” Justice Wigney stated.
“At its heart, a cartel is an agreement between competitors not to compete.”
According to Justice Wigney, Bingo was able to raise its prices and benefit from them without having to take on the customary risk of losing clients.
In May 2019, the court heard that Tartak had agreements with Emmanuel Roussakis, the CEO of Aussie Skip, regarding the fees that their respective companies would charge for collection and processing services.
The court was informed that the agreements had been mostly abandoned by September 2019.
“There could be no doubt that it was likely that some customers paid more than they otherwise would have paid for collection services and processing services as a result of the anti-competitive arrangements,” Justice Wigney stated.
“Tartak was no doubt aware of the likely effects of the arrangements.”
In addition, Australian Skip and Roussakis admitted admission to cartel offenses; they have not yet received a punishment.
To his credit, Tartak cooperated with investigators and entered a guilty plea as soon as possible, preventing the need for a drawn-out trial, according to Justice Wigney.
The program, which had an impact on consumers’ costs for the processing of construction waste throughout Sydney, was discovered through an investigation by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.
Following a referral from the commission, the charges were brought by the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions.
Tartak faced a maximum 10-year jail sentence and $420,000 fine, while Bingo risked a maximum fine of $40 million.
