San Francisco Office

The San Francisco Office was founded in the 1940s and since then has grown to be one of the largest offices in the Division. The office has both civil and criminal enforcement portfolios. Attorneys in the office may choose to focus on either civil or criminal enforcement or to work on both types of matters. The office benefits from the diverse backgrounds of its attorneys, who have joined the Division after working in plaintiff and defense side private practice as well as local, state, and federal government and through the Attorney General’s Honors Program.

Leadership

Leslie Wulff
Section Chief

Jackie Lem
Civil Chief

Christopher Carlberg
Assistant Chief

Elizabeth Jensen
Assistant Chief

Andrew Mast
Assistant Chief

Civil Enforcement

San Francisco’s civil portfolio includes civil antitrust enforcement, competition advocacy, and competition policy. The office has also brought civil enforcement actions across a variety of industries including technology and media.

Criminal Enforcement

San Francisco’s criminal portfolio includes investigations and prosecutions under federal antitrust and other federal criminal statutes that promote economic competition and protect consumers. The office has brought charges and secured convictions in local, national, and international cases across a broad range of industries including technology, real estate markets, consumer goods, government contracting, and healthcare labor markets.

Past investigations include:

• Caltrans Maintenance Contracts: The investigation uncovered a bid-rigging and bribery conspiracy involving California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) contracts that lasted from about February 2015 to December 2019. Choon Foo “Keith” Yong, a former Caltrans contract manager and two former contractors—Bill R. Miller and William D. Opp—engaged in a bid-rigging scheme to direct Caltrans contracts to co-conspirators and pay Yong bribes in the amount of approximately 10% of the value of the contracts subject to the scheme. Yong received nearly $1 million in payments and benefits as a result of the scheme. Yong, Miller, and Opp pleaded guilty. In April 2023, all three defendants were sentenced to multi-year terms of imprisonment and were also ordered to pay $984,699.53, jointly and severally, in restitution to Caltrans. Press Release: Former Public Official and California Contractor Sentenced for Bid Rigging and Bribery
• U.S. v. Nathan Nephi Zito: In October 2022, Nathan Nephi Zito pleaded guilty to one count of attempted monopolization, in violation of Section 2 of the Sherman Act (15 U.S.C. § 2), and was sentenced to six months of home detention and three years of probation and fined $27,000. Zito, the president of an asphalt contractor based in Billings, Montana, attempted to monopolize the markets for highway crack-sealing services in Montana and Wyoming by allocating regional markets with a competitor. This investigation was part of the Antitrust Division’s Procurement Collusion Strike Force (PCSF), which leads a coordinated national response to combat antitrust crimes and related schemes in government procurement. Press Release: Executive Pleads Guilty to Criminal Attempted Monopolization
• U.S. v. Ryan Hee and VDA OC, LLC, formerly Advantage on Call, LLC: This investigation involved an illegal conspiracy between Nevada health-care-staffing companies to allocate employee nurses and to fix the wages of those nurses. The conspiracy involved an agreement not to recruit or hire nurses staffed by their respective companies at Clark County School District facilities and to refrain from raising the wages of those nurses from October 2016 until July 2017. VDA OC, LLC and Ryan Hee, a regional manager, were both charged with one-count of violating Section 1 of the Sherman Act (15 U.S.C. § 1). VDA pleaded guilty in October 2022 and was sentenced to pay a criminal fine of $62,000 and restitution in the amount of $72,000. Hee entered into a pretrial diversion agreement. Press Release: Health Care Staffing Company and Executive Indicted for Colluding to Suppress Wages of School Nurses
• Packaged Seafood: The Antitrust Division’s investigation of major packaged seafood manufacturers uncovered a years-long conspiracy and illegal agreement to fix prices. Executives from three of the largest packaged seafood companies agreed to limit competition between 2011 and 2013 in several ways including by increasing the list price of products and decreasing the discounts retailers were able to offer consumers. As a result of the investigation, two companies and four individuals were charged with violating Section 1 of the Sherman Act (15 U.S.C. § 1). In total, participants were sentenced to pay over $125 million in criminal fines and the former CEO of Bumble Bee, Christopher Lischewski, was sentenced to 40 months in prison. Press Release: Former Bumble Bee CEO Sentenced To Prison For Fixing Prices Of Canned Tuna
• Capacitors: The investigation into major capacitor manufacturers uncovered a global price-fixing conspiracy designed to suppress competition and inflate prices. Electrolytic capacitors store and regulate electrical current in a variety of electronic products, including computers, televisions, car engine and airbag systems, home appliances, and office equipment. The co-conspirators entered into an agreement to fix prices of this essential electronic component from November 2001 until January 2014. In total, eight companies and ten individuals were charged with participating in this conspiracy. All eight companies pleaded guilty and were sentenced to criminal fines collectively totaling over $150 million. Two of the individual defendants were sentenced to one year and one day in prison. Press Release: Leading Electrolytic Capacitor Manufacturer Ordered to Pay $60 Million Criminal Fine for Price Fixing
• Real Estate Foreclosures: Beginning in October 2009, attorneys and law enforcement agents conducted multiple investigations across Northern California, which uncovered a series of bid-rigging conspiracies that were occurring during the height of the foreclosure crisis. Pursuant to the scheme, groups of insider investors suppressed competition by reaching agreements with their competitors to rig the auctions for distressed properties in exchange for payoffs. These payoffs were often determined through secondary knock-off auctions known as “rounds” and affected approximately 2000 properties auctioned in four different Northern California counties between 2007 and 2011. The scheme defrauded lenders and homeowners from the benefits of free and fair competition. Over 90 individuals were charged with participating in the conduct and in total were sentenced to pay $15.9 million in criminal fines and $6.7 million in restitution. Some defendants were additionally sentenced to up to 30 months in prison. Press Releases: Real Estate Investor Sentenced to 30 Months in Prison for Rigging Bids at Northern California Public Foreclosure AuctionsReal Estate Investor Pleads Guilty to Rigging Bids at Foreclosure Auctions
• LCD: The TFT-LCD investigation uncovered a global price-fixing cartel that existed from as early as September 2001 until December 2006. TFT-LCD panels were an essential component in the manufacturing of computers, monitors, television, mobile phones and other electronic devices. The companies involved in the conspiracy exchanged pricing and manufacturing information with the intent to increase the overall prices of the panels. In total, eight companies were convicted of charges arising out of the department’s investigation and were sentenced to pay criminal fines totaling $1.39 billion. Altogether, 22 executives were charged and 13 were sentenced to serve jail terms ranging between six months to three years. Press Releases: Taiwan-Based AU Optronics Corporation, Its Houston-Based Subsidiary and Former Top Executives Convicted for Role in LCD Price-Fixing ConspiracyLG, Sharp, Chunghwa Agree to Plead Guilty, Pay Total of $585 Million in Fines for Participating in LCD Price-Fixing Conspiracies