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The U.S. Department of Justice has named former federal prosecutor Bart Schwartz as the independent compliance monitor for Hoegh Autoliners, an international shipping company based in Norway.
Schwartz, a former chief of the criminal division in the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Manhattan under Rudolph Giuliani, is chairman of Guidepost Solutions, a New York consulting firm offering investigative and compliance services.
Schwartz most recently has served as monitor for General Motors Co. after the automaker reached a deferred prosecution agreement related to faulty ignition switches that caused fatal accidents. In both the GM and Hoegh cases, the DOJ chose the monitors under terms of the deals with the companies.
Bart Schwartz
Schwartz previously served as monitor or compliance expert for a number of companies, including Point72 Asset Management (formerly SAC Capital Advisors), Deutsche Bank, DHL Express and BP.
Hoegh, which primarily hauls cargo of new cars and trucks, pleaded guilty on Dec. 7, 2017, to one count of conspiring with other shippers to fix prices, allocate customers and rig bids, including at the Port of Baltimore. The case was heard by U.S. District Judge George Russell III in Maryland.
The DOJ announced the choice of Schwartz in a Feb. 5 letter to Russell.
Under the terms of its plea deal, Hoegh agreed to pay a criminal fine of $21 million, serve three years’ probation and implement antitrust compliance reforms. The company also agreed to install a compliance monitor for those three years.
Under the terms, Hoegh could submit three potential monitor names to the DOJ, but the final choice was the DOJ’s.
Hoegh chief compliance officer Maria Hempel signed the plea deal, along with outside counsel J. Bruce Maffeo and Nicole Sprinzen from Cozen O’Connor.
