Ex-ASX company exec jailed for blocking ACCC investigation

Former general manager at BlueScope Steel Limited (ASX: BSL) Jason Ellis has been sentenced to 8 months’ prison.

Ellis had pleaded guilty earlier this year to inciting colleagues to give false evidence to an Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) investigation.

The competition authority was probing whether BlueScope and Ellis had been involved in cartel behaviour between 2013 and 2014, which has resulted in a separate Federal Court case.

Ellis, as BlueScope’s general manager of sales and marketing, had instructed 2 staff members to give false evidence to ACCC officials.

The false testimony involved conversations he and the colleagues had with other steel companies about fixing prices.

On the obstruction…