Diamond Electric Execs to Plead Guilty in Supplier Price-Fixing Probe

Two former top executive at Japan's Diamond Electric Mfg. Co. have agreed to plead guilty of conspiring to fix prices on ignition coils, according to the U.S. Dept. of Justice.

Shigehiko Ikenaga, Diamond's former president, and Tatsuo Ikenaga, a former vice president who once headed the company's U.S. unit, each will pay $5,000 fines and serve 16 months in a U.S. prison.

Diamond Electric pleaded guilty in December of its involvement and was fined $19 million. The Justice Dept. says Diamond rigged prices to components sold to such carmakers as Ford, Fuji Heavy Industries (Subaru) and Toyota.

The latest pleas bring to 28 the number of executives charged in the U.S. with conspiracy to fix prices. The continuing Justice Dept. probe is part of a global investigation into extensive bid rigging by at least two dozen suppliers over a decade or more.