First extradition to the USA due to anti-competitive agreements

For the first time ever, a non-US citizen has been extradited to the United States solely on the suspicion of being involved in anti-competitive agreements. The extradition took place from Germany. The accused person, a former representative of a manufacturer industrial hose which based in Italy, was arrested in June of last year. He is accused on playing a central role in a cartel which existed for over 20 years and engaging in bid-rigging. At the time of his arrest, the accused person was on his way back from a trip to Nigeria; he had just landed at a German airport. In the accused person’s home country, Italy, the changes of arresting him were very low because antitrust law infringements do not constitute a criminal offence in Italy and therefore the general requirement for extradition that the crime is an offence in both countries is not met. In Germany, on the other hand, anti-competitive agreements are a criminal offence pursuant to Sec. 298 of the German Penal Code (StGB), which made extradition possible. Since the accused person is an Italian and not a German citizen, German constitutional law did not preclude the extradition (Art. 16(2) of the Basic Law of Germany). The German Federal Constitutional Court dismissed a request for injunctive relief against the extradition with a decision handed down on 17.02.2014 (2 BvQ 4/14).