Glastonbury Executive Charged In Antitrust Investigation: Feds

GLASTONBURY, CT — A former aerospace executive from Glastonbury has been charged with playing a key role in a long-running antitrust conspiracy, according to a statement from the U.S. Department of Justice.

Mahesh Patel, a former director of global engineering services at a major aerospace engineering company, is accused of enforcing an agreement among managers and executives of several outsource engineering suppliers to restrict the hiring and recruiting of engineers and other skilled laborers among their respective companies.

The scheme allowed businesses to reduce "the rise in labor costs that would occur when aerospace workers were free to find new employment in a competitive environment," according to the statement.

"At times, Patel confronted and berated Suppliers who cheated on the agreement, often at the direct behest of another Supplier, and threatened to punish nonconforming Suppliers by taking away valuable access to projects," the statement reads.

The maximum penalty for conspiracy to restrain trade under the Sherman Antitrust Act is 10 years in prison and a fine of $1 million.

Patel was released on conditions including travel restrictions and a $100,000 appearance bond. The charge against Patel is the first in this ongoing federal antitrust investigation.

"The Antitrust Division, together with our law enforcement partners, have prioritized rooting out conspiracies in labor markets," Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Kanter of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division said in a statement. "Here, thousands of workers have been victimized over a long period of time. We will vigorously prosecute this and other cases in which corporate executives undermine the careers of their own workers in order to reap undeserved profits and deprive our fellow citizens of opportunities to earn a competitive wage."