Utah heir location firm, co-owner indicted on U.S. antitrust charges

[August 18, 2016]    By Diane Bartz
 
 WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A Utah company which locates heirs to estates was indicted on Wednesday over allegations that it conspired with a second heir-location firm to divide up the market, the U.S. Department of Justice said.

Kemp & Associates Inc and co-owner Daniel Mannix were charged with one felony count for dividing up customers for their business, which is to find heirs of people who died but did not have a will, the department said. The companies earn a contingency fee for this service.

Two other companies and three executives were previously charged in the Justice Department Antitrust Division's investigation into the industry, the department said.

Neither Kemp nor Mannix could immediately be reached for comment.

(Reporting by Diane Bartz; editing by Grant McCool)

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