Aisin Seiki Pleads Guilty to Price Fixing in U.S.
Aisin Seiki Co. will plead guilty and pay a $36 million criminal fine in the U.S. for conspiring to fix prices and allocations of variable valve timing systems sold to BMW, General Motors, Nissan and Volvo.
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Aisin Seiki Co. will plead guilty and pay a $36 million criminal fine in the U.S. for conspiring to fix prices and allocations of variable valve timing systems sold to BMW, General Motors, Nissan and Volvo.
The plea is the latest result of a series of investigations in the U.S., Europe and Asia into criminal behavior by auto suppliers.
The U.S. Dept. of Justice says the $27 billion company and its co-conspirators met and held conversations about what they would charge and which carmakers each one would supply. Aisin Seiki's price fixing went on from as early as 2000 to at least 2010, according to the Justice Dept.
Aisin Seiki's guilty plea brings the total to 31 companies charged in the department's continuing investigation. Another 44 individuals have been charged with criminal wrongdoing to date, including 26 who have been sentenced to prison. The Justice Dept.'s probe has collected more than $2.4 billion in criminal fines.
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