Antitrust Law Daily Wrap Up, ANTITRUST NEWS: Retrial of AU Optronics Executive Results in Conviction, (Dec 19, 2012)
Organizations Mentioned:AU Optronics Corp.
By Jeffrey May, J.D.
A former senior manager in the Desktop Display Business Group of liquid crystal display (LCD) producer AU Optronics Corporation was found guilty by a jury in the federal district court in San Francisco yesterday of conspiring to fix prices for thin-film transistor-liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD) panels (U.S. v. Leung, Criminal No. 09-0110(SI)).
The conviction follows a three-week trial, necessitated by a mistrial earlier this year in the case against Shiu Lung Leung. In March, Taiwan-based AU Optronics Corporation and its American subsidiary, AU Optronics Corp. America, were found guilty of conspiring to fix prices, following an eight-week trial. AU Optronics Corporation’s former president and former executive vice president also were found guilty at that time. Two other AU Optronics Corporation employees were found not guilty. However, a mistrial was declared against Leung after that trial.
The companies and individuals were indicted in June 2010. The government alleged that Leung, along with the companies and former executives, fixed the prices of LCD panels sold in the United States. The conspirators fixed the prices of LCD panels during monthly meetings with their competitors, which were secretly held in hotel conference rooms, karaoke bars, and tea rooms around Taiwan. LCD panels are used in computer monitors and notebooks, televisions and other electronic devices.
“This international price-fixing conspiracy impacted countless American consumers by raising the price of computer monitors, notebooks and televisions containing LCD panels,” said Scott D. Hammond, Deputy Assistant Attorney General of the Antitrust Division criminal enforcement program, in a December 18 release. “Today’s guilty verdict demonstrates that the Antitrust Division will continue to hold executives accountable for crimes that undermine a competitive marketplace.”
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