The Office of Fair Trading has launched a criminal investigation into an alleged worldwide conspiracy to fix the market in the marine hoses that are used to transfer oil to tankers.

The OFT’s announcement followed the arrest of eight businessmen, including three British executives, yesterday in the US for their alleged role in an international cartel.

The DoJ said that Peter Whittle, owner of PW Consulting, a UK-based consulting firm, and Bryan Allison, managing director, and David Brammar, sales and marketing director, of Dunlop Oil & Marine, were charged in the US District Court of Miami for their roles in the alleged conspiracy. Executives from France, Italy and Japan were also arrested and charged.

The Miami Herald reported that the men were arrested in San Francisco and Houston, a day after prosecutors allege a meeting was held in a Houston hotel to discuss fixing prices and rigging bids on contracts.

The suspected cartel may have affected contracts worth hundreds of millions of pounds, the OFT said. Customers who may have suffered through the alleged cartel include the oil majors Shell, Exxon Mobil and Chevron.

It added that it is carrying out searches at two UK addresses as part of a criminal investigation, one of which is a home address.

It is the first time that the OFT has carried out a search at a home address as part of a cartel investigation.

Marine hoses are used in the oil and defence industries to transport oil between tankers and storage facilities.

According to the affidavit filed in support of the criminal complaint charging Messrs Whittle, Allison and Brammar, they met in locations including Key Largo, Bangkok, and London.

"At these meetings, the conspirators discussed and agreed to the rules for implementing their bid-rigging, price-fixing and allocation scheme. They also allegedly kept agendas and detailed "minutes" of cartel meetings," the DoJ said in a statement.

The OFT’s criminal investigation has been coordinated with investigations by the DOJ and the European Commission.

John Fingleton, chief executive of the OFT, said: “The OFT is committed to making full use of our criminal enforcement powers to investigate allegations of serious cartel conduct.

“Cartels are not limited to national boundaries, and our coordinated work with the European Commission and the US Department of Justice illustrates our determination to investigate international and national cartels alike.”

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