Fujikura Pleads Guilty to Price Fixing

Fujikura Ltd. has agreed to plead guilty in U.S. federal court to a felony charge of conspiring to fix prices of automotive wiring harnesses in 2006-2010. The Tokyo-based company will pay a $20 million fine.

Fujikura is the fifth company to plead guilty in the U.S. of participating in the bid-rigging scheme. The others are Denso ($78 million fine), Furukawa Electric ($200 million), G.S. Electech ($3 million) and Yazaki ($470 million.) Seven executives from those companies have been sentenced to prison terms of one to two years.

Japan's Fair Trade Commission ordered Fujikura in January to pay a 1.1 billion-yen ($14 million) fine for the same offense.

The charges are the result of an ongoing investigation of auto suppliers by government authorities in Europe, Japan and the U.S.