无力支付美国司法部提出的1亿美元罚款，金枪鱼食品商StarKist陷入财务困境

Canned tuna producer StarKist Co. said it can’t pay the Justice Department’s proposed $100 million criminal fine while also compensating customers suing over the antitrust conspiracy. PHOTO: LISA POOLE/ASSOCIATED PRESS

The U.S. government’s campaign to punish StarKist Co. and other canned tuna producers for price fixing could be pushing the company’s finances to the breaking point.

美国政府以价格操纵为由提议对StarKist Co.和其他罐装金枪鱼产品生产商开出的罚单，可能会把这家公司的财务状况推向崩溃边缘。

StarKist can’t pay the Justice Department’s proposed $100 million criminal fine while also compensating customers suing over the antitrust conspiracy, StarKist lawyer Niall Lynch said in a hearing in the U.S. District Court in San Francisco.

StarKist的律师Niall Lynch在旧金山地方法院的一场听证会上表示，StarKist无力在支付美国司法部提出的1亿美元刑事罚款的同时，还要赔偿就反垄断共谋而起诉该公司的客户。

StarKist pleaded guilty last year to fixing prices on canned tuna, along with its two main competitors, Chicken of the Sea and Bumble Bee Foods LLC. The federal investigation has embroiled the three companies in criminal proceedings and civil lawsuits, pressuring StarKist’s finances as prosecutors try to extract the largest possible fine allowable under the plea agreement.

StarKist去年认罪，承认曾与两大竞争对手Chicken of the Sea和Bumble Bee Foods LLC.一道操纵罐装金枪鱼产品的价格。联邦政府的调查已使这三家公司卷入刑事诉讼和民事诉讼，给StarKist的财务带来了压力，检方正试图开出认罪协议下所允许的最高罚金。

StarKist’s guilty plea carries a penalty of up to $100 million. But the company has said it can only afford to pay $50 million and wants a judge to reduce the fine. The company declined to comment beyond the court filings.

StarKist认罪后面临最高1亿美元的罚款。但该公司称，只付得起5,000万美元，希望法官减少罚金。该公司对法庭文件之外的内容不予发表评论。

Justice Department lawyers have said StarKist can sell its stake in packaging company Techpack Solutions Co. to pay the fine, which StarKist has denied it was able to do. StarKist and Techpack are both ultimately controlled by Korea’s Dongwon Group.

美国司法部的律师认为，StarKist可以出售其所持包装公司Techpack Solutions Co.的股权，把所得资金用来支付罚款。StarKist已表示不能这么做。StarKist和Techpack的最终控股方都是韩国Dongwon Group。

Even if StarKist could sell Techpack, the company said it couldn’t afford a $100 million fine, given its exposure in a pending class-action lawsuit over the tuna price fixing filed by consumers.

StarKist称，即使可能出售Techpack股权，该公司仍无力支付1亿美元的罚款，因为其还面临着消费者就金枪鱼价格操纵一事提起的集体诉讼。

Alexander Gladstone and Andrew Scurria

Aug. 13, 2019 4:54 pm ET

（本文版权归道琼斯公司所有，未经许可不得翻译或转载。）

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