1. 1999 - Roche branded the worst corporate criminal of the 1990s
   
   A US publication, Multinational Monitor, prepared a list of the top 100 corporate criminals of the 1990's. Roche was placed at the top of this list for the record fine it received in relation to the vitamin cartel which is detailed below.
   
   
2. 1999 - Roche - $10 Billion Settlement to customers plus $1 Billion Government fines
   
   Roche was forced to make payments of circa $10 billion to creditors / suppliers it had defrauded in the US, EU and most other countries where it was selling vitamins. In addition Roche was fined $500m by the American Department of Justice, $462m by the EU and other significant fines and penalties in relation to the fraud. USA Roche agreed to plead guilty and pay a record $500m criminal fine for leading a worldwide conspiracy to raise and fix prices and allocate market shares for certain vitamins sold in the United States and elsewhere. (US Dept of Justice press release - 20 May 1999) Dr Kuno Sommer, former Director of Worldwide Marketing, was charged with participating in the vitamin cartel and for lying to Department investigators in 1997 in an attempt to cover up the conspiracy. (US Dept of Justice press release - 20 May 1999) The vitamin cartel was described by the US Attorney General as the most pervasive and harmful criminal antitrust conspiracy ever uncovered, and Roche agreed to pay the largest fine in criminal history because it was caught flagrantly violating the law.
   
   "This cartel was truly extraordinary. It lasted almost a decade and involved a highly sophisticated and elaborate conspiracy to control everything about the sale of these products. These companies fixed the price; they allocated sales volumes; they allocated customers; and in the United States they even rigged bids to make absolutely sure the cartel would work. The conspirators actually held "annual meetings" to fix prices and to carve up world markets, as well as frequent follow-up meetings to ensure compliance with their illegal scheme. The enormous effort that went into maintaining this conspiracy reflects the magnitude of the illegal revenues it generated as well as the harm it inflicted on the American economy."
   
   "…Indeed, the members of the vitamin cartel, including Hoffman - LaRoche, continued to meet and carry out their global agreement even while Hoffman - LaRoche was being investigated, prosecuted, and fined $14m in March 1997 for participating in the citric acid cartel." (Statement of US Attorney General - 20 May 1999)
   
   Further, the Director of Criminal Enforcement at the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice later said:
   "The vitamin cartel was led by the top management at some of the world's largest corporations, including one company, F. Hoffman La Roche - which continued to engage in the vitamin conspiracy even as it was pleading guilty and paying a fine for its participation in the citric acid conspiracy….some senior executives of this mult-national firm knew about the firm's participation in international cartels in two industries. When the firm's illegal activities were uncovered in one industry, and the firm had to plead guilty and pay millions of dollars in fines, those executives could have and should have terminated the firm's cartel activities in the second (and larger) industry. Instead, those executives orchestrated false statements to enforcement authorities, took steps to further conceal the firm's illegal activities, and continued to lead the world's other producers in a global cartel." (Speech given by Scott Hammond, Director of Criminal Enforcement, Antitrust Division, US Department of Justice on 15 May 2001)
   
   The following Roche executives were all personally fined and received prison sentences for their part in the fraud:
   
   

   Kuno Sommer, former Director of Roche Worldwide Marketing; Roland Bronnimann, President of the Roche Vitamins and Fine Chemicals Division; and Andreas Hauri, former Hoffman LaRoche Fine Chemical and Vitamin Division Marketing Director.

   
   The Roche 1999 Annual Report states that "In May 1999 Roland Bronniman, … and Kuno Sommer, … left Roche." Roland Bronniman was replaced by Markus Altweg, who was given a seat on the executive committee at this time.
   
   European Union
   
   On 21 November 2001 ,the EU fined F. Hoffman La Roche €462m for instigating and participating in the Vitamin Cartel.
   
   "..the involvement of some of its most senior executives tends to confirm that the arrangements were part of a strategic plan conceived at the highest levels to control the world market in vitamins by illegal means." (Source - EU Press Release dated 21 November 2001).
   
   Canada
   
   On 22 September 1999, F. Hoffman La Roche fined $48m for its part in the vitamin cartel, and $2.9m for its part in the citric acid cartel. Sanctions and fines were also imposed against Roche executives Andreas Hauri and Roland Bronniman.
   
   
3. 1999 - Genentech and University of California
   
   On 19 November 1999 the Group's subsidiary Genentech reached a settlement agreement with the University of California regarding alleged patent infringement involving Genentech's human growth hormone products. Under the settlement, Genentech agreed to pay the University of California $200m. (Source - Roche annual report 1999).
   
   The University of California had accused Genentech of stealing a patented DNA molecule and using it to develop a top-selling human growth hormone, Protropin. The university had initially sought $400m.
   
   
4. Genentech and City of Hope Medical Center
   10 June 2002, compensatory damages of $300.1m awarded City of Hope Medical Center. The dispute related to a 1976 agreement in which Genentech funded City of Hope research, then licenced a resulting patent. Genentech paid City of Hope royalties after it licenced the technology to two pharmaceutical companies, but City of Hope alleged that Genentech had improperly failed to pay royalties after licencing the technology to nearly two dozen other companies. On 24 June 2002, a further $200m of punitive damages was awarded against Roche. (Source - Wall Street Journal - 24 June 2002)
   
   
5. 1997 - Roche - $14 million government fine
   
   On 26 June 1997, F. Hoffman-LaRoche and Jungbunzlauer International AG agreed to plead guilty and pay criminal fines totalling $25m for participating in an international conspiracy to fix prices and allocated market shares in the citric acid market worldwide. Hoffman-La Roche agreed to pay $14m. Udo Haas, the former Managing Director of SA Citrique Belge NV - the citric acid-producing affiliate of Hoffman-La-Roche, also agreed to plead guilty and pay a $150,000 criminal fine for their role in the conspiracy. (Source - Department of Justice press release 26 March 1997)
   
   
6. 1973 - Roche - Vitamins Price Fixing Allegations
   
   Stanley Adams handed over documents to the EEC detailing a number of serious frauds committed by Roche. This testimony led to Roche being fined by the European Court.
   

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