An ongoing federal investigation into price fixing on promotional products sold online has resulted in another guilty plea from an ad specialty executive.

Akil Kurji, owner and president of Gennex Media, pled guilty on April 11 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas to charges of conspiring to fix prices on promo products. Gennex Media is not ASI-listed, but other businesses connected with Kurji are listed. ASI records show that Kurji has been an executive at supplier-listed PMGOA (asi/79982) of Sugar Land, TX. Kurji has also been identified as principal executive at Brandeco LLC, which has done business online under the name BrandNex.com (asi/145204).

The felony charges against Kurji carry a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $1 million. The maximum fine for an individual may be increased to twice the gain derived from the crime or twice the loss suffered by the victims of the crime, if either of those amounts is greater than the statutory maximum fine, authorities noted. Kurji has not yet been sentenced.

“Price fixing for small, logo branded items is illegal, just like it would be for a pair of Fortune 500 companies,” said Ryan K. Patrick (pictured), U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Texas. “In the end, consumers are harmed by paying inflated prices.”

According to authorities, Kurji and co-conspirators fixed prices on branded merchandise that included wristbands, lanyards, temporary tattoos and buttons. The accused sold the products online through ecommerce websites they operated from as early as May 2014 until at least June 2016. They used social media platforms and encrypted messaging applications, such as Facebook, Skype, and Whatsapp, to conduct their illicit scheming, authorities said.

Kurji is the fifth defendant – of 11 so far accused -- to plead guilty in connection with the investigation. Others who’ve pleaded guilty include Christopher Angeles, once top executive of Custom Wristbands Inc., and Azim Makanojiya, who did business as both a supplier and distributor under names that included Zaappaaz Inc. and WB Promotions Inc. Learn more about the Angeles and Makanojiya charges here.

Authorities said the antitrust investigation into price fixing in the online promotional products industry is continuing. Investigators encouraged anyone with information on such price fixing, as well as other anticompetitive conduct in the promo industry, to contact a U.S. Department of Justice antitrust complaint center at 888-647-3258 or by visiting www.justice.gov/atr/contact/newcase.html

Assistant Attorney General Makan Delrahim of the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division said that the ongoing investigation and Kurji’s guilty plea demonstrate “the antitrust division’s commitment to prosecuting executives who conspire to fix prices of products sold online.”