the rivals firms who made the allegations of bribery were es-ko and switzerland's supreme foodservice ag (supreme was later investigated, fined and blacklisted by the us doj for 'price fixing' on us dod contracts in afghanistan). officials initiated lawsuits claiming violation of the racketeer influenced and corrupt organizations (rico) act, the sherman antitrust act and new york state's donnelly act regulating free trade. federal investigations were held and the case was referred to the serious fraud office (uk). the lawsuits, in which the two competitors who claimed a total of £600m in damages against compass, alleged that compass had tried to rig the awarding of un contracts worth in excess of $350m (£188m) for united nations peace keepers across the world. the long-running dispute centred on allegations that five senior executives at a compass subsidiary, eurest support services (ess), bribed a un official to win the contracts.