Waste company Bingo Industries pleads guilty to criminal cartel offences

Waste company Bingo Industries has pleaded guilty to criminal cartel offences relating to price fixing for demolition waste services in Sydney.

Bingo’s former managing director and CEO Daniel Tartak has also been charged with two criminal cartel offences

Waste company Bingo Industries — which was acquired last year for $2.3bn by a consortium that included an offshoot of Macquarie Bank — has pleaded guilty to criminal cartel offences relating to price fixing, with the scion of one of Australia’s wealthiest families also dragged into the corporate scandal and charged with criminal offences.

Bingo was charged with the offences on Tuesday after an investigation by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission and referral to the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions.

It is alleged that in mid-2019, waste management and garbage collector Bingo agreed with its competitors Aussie Skips Bin Services and Aussie Skips Recycling to fix and increase prices for the supply of skip bins and the provision of waste processing services for building and demolition waste in Sydney.

Bingo’s former managing director and major shareholder, Daniel Tartak has also been charged with two criminal cartel offences. Mr Tartak’s father, Tony, built a waste business empire that started with spending almost $1m buying a four-skip truck business that later in conjunction with Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets (MIRA) took the ASX-listed Bingo private after a $2.3bn takeover.

The Tartak family are ranked as one of Australia’s richest families with a wealth of $759m.

The allegations of criminal price fixing were first disclosed to the market in January 2020 when the then publicly listed Bingo outed itself following market speculation the ACCC was conducting an investigation into the building and demolition waste sector in New South Wales.

Ian Malouf, once known as the country’s “richest garbo”, was a major shareholder in Bingo when it was listed and was a director of the ASX company from 2019 when the price fixing was alleged to have taken place.

Mr Malouf remains a director of the now privately owned Bingo which operates more than 330 garbage trucks, skips and other waste management equipment.

Bingo chairman, well-connected businessman and company director Tony Shepherd, told The Australian there was no conflict with Mr Malouf continuing to serve as a director of Bingo in light of the guilty plea entered into by Bingo to the price fixing charges.

“He (Mr Malouf) was not involved, didn’t have anything to do with it so it is not an issue, he had no involvement whatsoever.

“Fundamentally it is a new board since MIRA took over.”

In a statement Bingo confirmed it had pleaded guilty to the charges as laid.

“Bingo has co-operated with the ACCC and the CDPP throughout its investigation and regrets that the matter occurred. It does not reflect Bingo’s values or standards of conduct.

“The matter primarily relates to certain pricing over a period of about two months over July and August 2019 in Bingo’s Sydney skip bin and processing businesses, the latter predominantly at three facilities.

“Since the matter occurred there have been significant changes in Bingo’s ownership, board and executive team, including improvements to Bingo’s governance processes.”

ACCC chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb said that when companies arrange to fix prices, they usually do so to increase their profits, and it is consumers that pay the increased cost.

“We are committed to detecting and investigating serious cartel allegations and taking appropriate action against those who are a party to illegal cartel behaviour, including referral of matters to the CDPP.

“Cartel conduct not only frequently impacts consumers, but it can also significantly harm competing businesses and the economy more broadly. Trying to detect cartels early and working with whistleblowers is an essential component of our work.”

The matter will be listed for case management hearing in the Federal Court at a later stage.