Antitrust Law Daily Wrap Up, ANTITRUST NEWS: Japanese auto parts executive charged in price fixing conspiracy, (Oct 16, 2014)

By Jeffrey May, J.D.

Six months after Japanese auto parts maker Showa Corporation agreed to plead guilty and to pay a $19.9 million criminal fine for its role in a conspiracy to fix prices and rig bids for steering assemblies, a former company executive has been charged with participating in the conspiracy. Yesterday, a federal grand jury in Cincinnati returned a one-count indictment against Akira Wada (U.S. v. Wada, Criminal No. 1:14-cr-00104-TSB).

Showa manufactures pinion-assist type electric powered steering assemblies and sells these assemblies to Honda Motor Co. Ltd. These assemblies were installed in vehicles manufactured and/or sold in the United States, according to the Justice Department.

While Wada was an employee of Showa, he was a manager of the sales department responsible for sales of pinion-assist type electric powered steering assemblies to Honda. Wada was a Manager and General Manager of Sales Department 1 at Showa from 2003 until about June 2009. In 2013 Wada became a Director and Operating Officer of Showa.

According to the indictment, from 2007 until about September 2012, Wada participated in a conspiracy to suppress and eliminate competition in the auto parts industry by allocating markets and fixing prices for pinion-assist type electric powered steering assemblies sold to Honda. It is alleged that the co-conspirators took measures to keep their conduct secret, including using code names and meeting at remote locations.

Wada was the 44th individual to be charged in the government’s ongoing antitrust investigation into the auto parts industry, according to the Justice Department. Twenty-six of these individuals have pleaded guilty and have been sentenced to serve prison terms ranging from a year and one day to two years.

Charges against Showa. The charges against Wada follow Showa's agreement to plead guilty to a one-count felony charge filed in the federal district court in Cincinnati in April. Showa has since entered a guilty plea and has agreed to pay a $19.9 million criminal fine for its role in the conspiracy.

Showa was the 27th company to admit to its role in the auto parts conspiracies, the Justice Department reported. To date, 29 companies have pleaded guilty or agreed to plead guilty and have agreed to pay a total of nearly $2.4 billion in fines. In July, Jtekt Corporation, another steering assemblies supplier, was fined $103.27 million for conspiring to rig bids and fix prices for electric-powered steering assemblies sold to Nissan.

Companies: Showa Corp.; Jtekt Corp.; Honda Motor Co. Ltd.

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