2 L.A. Produce Firms Fined $600,000 for Bid-Rigging

Two Los Angeles produce firms were ordered Monday to pay a total of $600,000 in fines, costs and restitution after pleading no contest to rigging bids for the sale of onions and potatoes to county government purchasing agents.

Potato Sales Co., 1104 Lawrence St., and its president, Jack Berlin, and Progressive Produce Co. and its former part-owner, Arlin C. Inman Jr., were indicted for antitrust violations in March, 1984, along with a third company, J. Hellman Produce Inc., and its then-sales manager, Max Janis.

The companies and their executives were accused of conspiring, beginning in 1980, to win bids on a rotating monthly basis for about $1.25 million worth of produce for various government departments.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Thomas A. Papageorge said the county was overcharged between $300,000 and $400,000. The scheme was uncovered when a county deputy purchasing agent noticed a regular pattern in the way bids to produce suppliers were being awarded.

After pleading no contest to the charges in Los Angeles Superior Court, J. Hellman was ordered to pay $300,000 in fines and other charges, and Janis was ordered to perform 250 hours of community service. Berlin and Inman, who face maximum 60-day jail terms, will be sentenced Oct. 19.

The corporations will pay $300,000 each as a condition for being placed on three years’ probation. In exchange, the district attorney’s office agreed to dismiss a civil suit filed against the firms.