Three South Korea-based companies, including SK Energy Co. Ltd., pleaded guilty to a criminal violation of Section 1 of the Sherman Act for their involvement in a decade-long bid-rigging conspiracy involving contracts to supply fuel to U.S. Army, Navy, Marine Corps, and Air Force bases in South Korea. According to the charges, beginning around March 2005 and continuing into 2016, SK Energy and other South Korean petroleum and refinery companies participated in a conspiracy to suppress and eliminate competition during the bidding process for U.S. military fuel contracts. SK Energy paid a $34 million criminal fine (plus a $400 special assessment). SK also paid more than $90 million to settle related civil antitrust and False Claims Act charges (see SK Holdings Co., Ltd. instance, “Rigging Bids on Department of Defense Fuel Supply Contracts – Civil Settlement”).