Antitrust Law Daily Wrap Up, ANTITRUST NEWS: Two executives indicted in Japanese auto parts price fixing conspiracy, (Nov 14, 2014)
Organizations Mentioned:NSK Ltd.
By Greg Hammond, J.D.
An indictment was filed yesterday in the federal district court in Covington, Kentucky, for two executives allegedly involved in a conspiracy to fix prices and rig bids for Japanese automotive parts. The indictment is part of an ongoing federal antitrust investigation into price fixing and bid rigging in the automotive parts industry, which has already led to prison sentences and billions of dollars in criminal fines (U.S. v. Hirose, Case No. 2:14-cr-00049-DLB-JGW).
Hiroya Hirose of NSK Ltd. and Masakazu Iwami of Jtekt Corp. were named in the indictment for conspiring to fix the prices of bearings sold to Toyota Motor Corp. and Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America Inc. in the United States. Hirose was a manager at NSK, Ltd. during the alleged conspiracy, and Iwami was a manager at Jtekt Corp. Both NSK and Jtekt previously pleaded guilty for their roles in the conspiracy, and agreed to pay $68.2 million and $103.27 million in criminal fines, respectively.
The indictment charges Hirose and Iwami with price fixing and bid rigging in violation of the Sherman Act. Specifically, it alleges—in part—that the two executives and others participated in, and directed, authorized, or consented to participation of subordinate employees in meetings to discuss bids and price quotations to be submitted to Toyota. They allegedly submitted bids and price quotes according to agreements made at those meetings.
“The division will continue to pursue executives who violate the antitrust laws,” stated Assistant Attorney General Bill Baer for the Antitrust Division. “American consumers deserve the benefit of free competition between auto parts suppliers.”
A total of 46 individuals have now been charged for participating in market allocation, price fixing, and bid rigging in the auto parts industry, as part of the government’s ongoing investigation. Twenty-six individuals have pleaded guilty, leading to prison terms of up to two-years, and 30 companies have pleaded guilty, leading to almost $2.4 billion in criminal fines.
News: Antitrust AntitrustDivisionNews