[Alpha Biz=(Chicago) Reporter Kim Jisun] Five computer software developers and vendors were sanctioned by the Fair Trade Commission after they were found to have colluded in bidding for offshore plant engineering application solutions.

The FTC said on the 30th that it will impose a total of 110 million won in corrective orders and fines on five companies, including ERE Information Technology, USIS, DB Valley, Linux Data System and ITstone. Ire Information Technology and its CEO, who led the collusion, file a complaint with the prosecution.

The bidding for the case was conducted by the Offshore Plant Engineering Business Group (ATEC), which was affiliated with the Korea Institute of Ocean Science and Technology's Ship and Ocean Plant Research Institute.

ATEC executives and employees asked A, CEO of Ere Information Technology, to draw up a bidding proposal instead so that they could purchase products from a specific company they wanted or set up a bridesmaid company.

In response, A led the collusion by directly winning the bid through Ere Information Technology or introducing them to ATEC executives and employees to help other companies win the bid and asking them to set up a maid of honor.

Moreover, Mr. A went beyond simply leading the collusion and also received economic benefits from other successful companies.

A wrote an agreement to introduce a certain company to executives and employees of ATEC to win the bid and to distribute half of the operating profit with the company even before the bid is announced.

In addition, when other companies participated in the bidding with the introduction of A and won the bid and won about 1.8 billion won, they were required to purchase all 1.7 billion won in products from Ere Information Technology, excluding VAT.

"We will continue to strengthen monitoring to root out bidding collusion in the public sector software market and take stern measures if caught," an FTC official said.

 

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