Antitrust Law Daily Wrap Up, ANTITRUST NEWS: Executive pleads guilty for role in international automobile parts cartel, (Jul 31, 2014)

An executive of Japanese auto parts maker G.S. Electech Inc. pleaded guilty and was sentenced to serve 13 months in a U.S. prison for his role in an international conspiracy to rig bids and fix prices on auto parts used on antilock brake systems installed in U.S. cars. Judgment was entered today in the case against Shingo Okuda by the federal district court in Covington, Kentucky (U.S. v. Okuda, Case No. 2:23-cr-00051-DLB-CJS).

Okuda, the former Engineering and Sales Division Manager for G.S. Electech, pleaded guilty to a one-count charge of bid rigging and price fixing. As part of his plea agreement, Okuda also agreed to cooperate with the Justice Department’s ongoing investigation and to pay a $20,000 criminal fine.

In September 2013, a federal grand jury in Covington, Kentucky, returned an indictment against Okuda, charging him with conspiring to rig bids and fix prices of speed sensor wire assemblies, which are installed in automobiles with an antilock brake system (ABS), sold to Toyota Motor Corp. and Toyota Motor Engineering and Manufacturing North America Inc., in the United States and elsewhere.

According to the indictment, Okuda and his co-conspirators carried out the conspiracy by agreeing during meetings and discussions to coordinate bids and fix prices of automotive parts submitted to Toyota. The indictment charged Okuda with participating in the conspiracy beginning at least as early as January 2003 until at least February 2010. According to the department’s announcement of the indictment, the charge against Okuda was the first charge to be filed in Kentucky in the investigation.

G.S. Electech manufactures, assembles and sells a variety of automotive electrical parts, including speed sensor wire assemblies. The speed sensor wire assemblies connect a sensor on each wheel to the ABS to instruct it when to engage. On May 16, 2012, G.S. Electech pleaded guilty to the conspiracy and agreed to pay a $2.75 million criminal fine.

Including Okuda, 36 individuals have been charged in the Justice Department’s ongoing investigation into price fixing and bid rigging in the auto parts industry. Okuda is the first individual in the investigation to plead guilty following an indictment. Additionally, 27 companies have pleaded guilty or agreed to plead guilty and have agreed to pay a total of nearly $2.3 billion in fines.

Attorneys: Ariel S. Glasner and Lawrence H. Wechsler (Blank Rome LLP) for Shingo Okuda.

Companies: G.S. Electech Inc.

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