U.S. Indicts 7 Execs in Supplier Price-Fixing Probe

The U.S. Dept. of Justice has indicted seven executives from two Japanese auto suppliers for conspiring to rig prices on auto parts between 2000 and 2010.

The indictment charges three managers from Mitsubishi Electric Corp. (Atsushi Ueda, Minoru Kurisaki and Hideyuki Saito) and four from Hitachi Automotive Systems Ltd. (Takashi Toyokuni, Ken Funasaki, Kazunobu Tsunekawa and Tomiya Itakura).

The three Mitsubishi executives are charged with manipulating the price of such components as alternators, ignition coils and starter motors sold to Chrysler, Ford, Fuji Heavy, General Motors, Honda and Nissan. The trio also is charged with destroying documents or persuading others to do so.

The four Hitachi executives, all still employed by the company, are accused of conspiracy to fix prices of air flow meters, alternators, electronic throttle bodies, fuel injection systems, valve timing devices and other components sold to Ford, GM, Honda, Nissan and Toyota.

The seven defendants each faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a criminal fine equal to twice the gain derived or loss suffered by the victims.

The latest indictments bring to 43 the number of people indicted by the department so far in its antitrust investigation, 26 of whom have pleaded guilty. The department also has collected more than $2.4 billion in fines from 28 companies that pleaded guilty or agreed to plead guilty.