 THE US DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE (DoJ) HAS BEEN  on a mission to export the criminalisation of cartel  behaviour around the world. The UK government was  a willing importer of US-style cartel criminalisation  and now British Airways (BA) has become one of the  first British corporate targets of that policy, with  four senior executives facing individual charges  under the UK's Enterprise Act (EA) 2002. The  maximum penalty under UK law for individuals is up  to five years in jail and unlimited fines.
 FACTS
 On 7 August 2008 the UK's Office of Fair Trading (OFT)  announced that four BA executives had been charged  with cartel offences under EA 2002 in connection with  the OFT's criminal investigation into price-fixing of fuel  surcharges for long-haul passenger flights.  Andrew Crawley (head of sales), Martin George  (former commercial director), Iain Burns (former  head of communications) and Alan Burnett (former  head of UK and Ireland sales) were each charged  with having 'dishonestly agreed with others to make  or implement arrangements which directly or  indirectly fixed the price' for the supply in the UK  of passenger air transport services by BA and  Virgin Atlantic.
 The charges relate to the period between July 2004  and April 2006, when the defendants were all  employed by BA. They were due to appear at the  City of London Magistrates' Court on 24 September.  The overall investigation has already cost BA over Â
