a287  2114  06 Oct 86
AM-Minolta Suit,0428
Maryland Attorney General's Office Settles National Suit
Eds: A version moved on the financial wires.
By JANE E. ALLEN
Associated Press Writer
    BALTIMORE (AP) - Minolta Camera Co. Ltd. will refund about $6
million in overcharges to buyers of two of its cameras as part of a
national antitrust settlement reached Monday, the Maryland Attorney
General's Office said.
    ''It's the largest consumer antitrust case of this sort to be
settled,'' said Michael F. Brockmeyer, chief of the antitrust
division of the Maryland Attorney General's Office, which acted as
local counsel for attorneys general around the nation. ''We are
attempting to distribute to the maximum number of people what we
believe to be a refund of the overcharge.''
    Buyers from 37 states who purchased the cameras between Jan. 1, 1985
and March 21, 1986, should contact their local attorney general if
they believe they might be eligible for the refunds, Brockmeyer said.
    ''Each buyer of the Minolta Maxxum 7000 will get $15 back, and
buyers of the the AF Tele will get $8 back under a settlement reached
Monday.''
    Minolta also is paying another $1 per buyer to offset administration
costs, he said.
    Brockmeyer said there were 400,000 cameras involved in Monday's
settlement, including more than 300,000 Maxxums.
    The case, which originated with filings in Maryland and New York in
February, charged that Minolta and its dealers had agreed to fix the
price of the Maxxum 7000, an autofocus model, and the AF Tele cameras
in violation of the antitrust law, he said.
    New York and Maryland negotiated the refund amount, he said,
describing the settlement amount as ''really the culmination of
discussions that have taken place since March.''
    He said attorneys general had addresses for about a third of the
buyers and would try to contact others through notices placed in
newspapers around the country.
    ''We anticipate the money to be distributed late next summer,'' he
said, after a June hearing in which U.S. District Judge Walter Black
is expected to give final approval of the settlement.
    Brockmeyer said lawsuits were filed Monday on behalf of 34 states,
with separate suits already filed for Maryland, Pennsylvania and New
York.
    ''I would anticipate that a settlement of a lawsuit for the
remainder of the citizens of the United States should be transferred
to the District of Maryland shortly.''
    Brockmeyer said Minolta had suggested its dealers charge ''a minimum
of $319.95 for the Maxxum 7000. What we're saying is that a person
would have paid about $304.95. That's the $15.''
    He said a similar calculation applied to the other model.
    
AP-NY-10-07-86 0011EDT
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