Former executives of Air France-KLM Cargo have been indicted on price-fixing charges in Chicago.

The announcement on Tuesday said that the carrier’s ex-executive vice president, Marc Boudier, as well as Jean Charles Foucault, its former cargo marketing and sales vice president, had been indicted under a federal grand jury and if convicted they could face a $1 million fine and as many as 10 years behind bars.

Justice Department officials said that the two men had orchestrated a conspiracy in which they worked to coordinate and fix cargo prices to several US and international locations, as well as surcharges on shipments heading out of the United States. A spokesperson said the two have been accused of participating in the scam since mid-2004 and continued doing so until at least early 2006.

The news comes as part of a massive investigation in which 21 different organisations and 19 different officials in addition to Foucault and Boudier have been accused of fixing prices over a several-year period in both Europe and the US. Air France and three other airlines had admitted to the ordeal in 2008 and paid $350 million in fines, the biggest-ever figure paid in an anti-trust case.

Likewise, the Franco-Dutch airline also paid some CA $10 million to Canadian officials over the ordeal and it has since appealed an EU fine of some €350 million.