Grand Jury Indicts Tokai Rika Executive for Price Fixing

A federal grand jury in Detroit has indicted Hitoshi Hirano, a former executive managing director of Japanese supplier Tokai Rika Co., with conspiring to rig prices of components sold to Toyota Motor Corp.

The charge is the latest in a global price-fixing probe that so far has levied criminal fines of more than $2.3 billion against 27 auto suppliers, indicted 34 executive and and sentenced 22 executives to prison terms in the U.S. alone.

The U.S. Dept. of Justice says Hirano rigged prices on vehicle climate control panels between 2003 and 2010 and ordered employees to destroy documents and delete electronic data about the company's illegal behavior.

Tokai Rika pleaded guilty in 2012 for its role in the conspiracy and was ordered to pay an $18 million criminal fine.