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Japanese Supplier to Admit Guilt in U.S. Price-Fixing Probe

Tokyo-based Koito Manufacturing Co. has reached a deal with the U.S. Dept. of Justice to plead guilty and pay $57 million in criminal fines for conspiring to rig bids and fix prices on headlamps, tail lamps and related electronic components sold to Toyota Motor Corp.
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Tokyo-based Koito Manufacturing Co. has reached a deal with the U.S. Dept. of Justice to plead guilty and pay $57 million in criminal fines for conspiring to rig bids and fix prices on headlamps, tail lamps and related electronic components sold to Toyota Motor Corp.

The Justice Dept. says Koito's involvement spanned from at least mid-1998 to early 2010.

Koito is the 24th auto supplier in the U.S. to plead guilty or agree to plead guilty to price fixing in the auto industry. Those companies have paid more than $1.8 billion in fines, and several of their executives have been imprisoned.

The continuing Justice Dept. investigation is part of a global probe into anticompetitive activities by companies that supply a wide range of automotive components.

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