US chain Walmart — the biggest supermarket retailer in the world — got slapped with a fine in Chile over price-fixing (SCOTT OLSON)

Santiago (AFP) – A Chilean anti-trust court on Thursday fined two homegrown supermarket chains and the local branch of Walmart $12.4 million for colluding to fix the price of fresh chicken.

The Court for the Defense of Free Competition found that Walmart, Cencosud and SMU had worked together to set prices from 2008 to 2011.

The three chains, which control 92.5 percent of Chile’s grocery sector, said Thursday in separate statements that that they would appeal the ruling to the country’s Supreme Court. 

The case is the latest in a long line of similar price-fixing schemes to plague Chile, including over toilet paper and cement production.

After news of the scandal broke in 2016, the three chains faced a public backlash, with protesters using social media to organize demonstrations against the companies.

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