Some of the UK's largest contractors are among the companies that have been collectively fined UK£ 129.5 million (US$ 213 million) for their part in a cartel which affected 199 tenders awarded between 2000 and 2006.rnIn most cases, the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) found evidence of cover pricing where one or more bidders arranged for their competitors to submit artificially high prices to ensure a chosen contractor won the bid. In 11 of the tenders, the lowest bidder faced no real competition because all other bids were cover bids.rnThe OFT also found six instances where successful bidders had made compensation payments of between UK£ 2500 (US$ 4100) and UK£ 60000 (US$ 9800) to unsuccessful bidders. Cash for these payments had been generated through false invoicing.
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