Antitrust Law Daily Wrap Up, ANTITRUST NEWS: Executive Pleads Guilty to Role in Price Fixing of Anti-Vibration Parts for Autos, (Nov 19, 2012)

By Jeffrey May, J.D.

The Department of Justice announced on November 16 that an executive at the Ohio subsidiary of a Japanese automotive supplier pleaded guilty for his role in a conspiracy to fix prices and rig bids of anti-vibration rubber parts. A one-count felony charge had been filed on October 30 in the federal district court in Toledo (U.S. v. Yoshida, Case No. 3:12-cr-515).

The case against Hiroshi Yoshida, a Japanese national, was the first charge in the Justice Department’s ongoing investigation into price fixing and bid rigging in the automobile anti-vibration rubber parts industry. Anti-vibration rubber parts are installed in suspension systems and engine mounts, as well as other parts of an automobile, to reduce engine and road vibration. Including Yoshida, nine companies and 12 executives have pleaded guilty or agreed to plead guilty in the Justice Department’s broader auto parts industry investigation.

According to the charge, Yoshida’s involvement in the conspiracy began at least as early as October 2005 and continued until at least June 2011. The Justice Department said that Yoshida and his co-conspirators carried out the conspiracy by agreeing, in meetings and discussions, to allocate the supply of certain automobile anti-vibration rubber parts, to exchange prices, to submit noncompetitive bids, and to sell the parts at collusive and noncompetitive prices in the United States and elsewhere.

According to the plea agreement, Yoshida has agreed to serve 12 months and one day in a U.S. prison, to pay a $20,000 criminal fine, and to cooperate with the Justice Department’s ongoing investigation. Yoshida’s sentencing is scheduled to take place on December 20, 2012.

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