U.S. Indicts Takata Executive for Price Fixing

A federal grand jury in Detroit has indicted former Takata Corp. executive Gikou Nakajima for participating in a conspiracy to fix prices of seatbelt systems supplied in the U.S. and elsewhere to Fuji Heavy Industries, Honda, Mazda, Nissan and Toyota.

The criminal charge is the latest in a global investigation into bid rigging among auto suppliers in the American, European and Japanese markets.

As head of customer relations at Takata between mid-2005 and mid-2009, Nakajima was the company's highest-level global sales executive, according to the U.S. Dept. of Justice. It says he authorized and directed his subordinates to fix seatbelt prices during that time.

Takata pleaded guilty in the U.S. to its role in the conspiracy last December and was ordered to pay a criminal fine of $71 million. Four other Takata executives also have pleaded guilty and were sentenced to fines and terms in American prisons.

The Justice Dept. says its continuing investigation has collected $2.3 billion in fines from 27 companies, charged 35 individuals and so far sent 22 to prison.