Chung Cheng (Alex) Yeh, Price-Fixing, California 2024

A former executive of a Taiwan-based color display tube manufacturing company has been charged with participating in a global conspiracy to fix prices of cathode ray tubes used in computer monitors and other specialized applications.

Chung Cheng (Alex) Yeh, a resident of Taiwan, has been indicted for conspiring with unnamed co-conspirators to suppress and eliminate competition by fixing prices, reducing output, and allocating market shares of color display tubes beginning at least as early as May 1999, until at least March 2005.

According to the charges, Yeh, a former director of sales, and co-conspirators agreed to charge prices of color display tubes at certain target levels or ranges and to reduce output of color display tubes by shutting down production lines for certain periods of time.

The indictment alleges that Yeh and co-conspirators also agreed to allocate target market shares for the color display tube market overall and for certain color display tube customers.

Yeh is the third individual to be indicted in connection with the color display tube investigation. On February 10, 2009, Cheng Yuan (C.Y.) Lin was indicted for his participation in both the color display tube conspiracy and a price-fixing conspiracy in the color picture tube industry.

On August 18, 2009, Wen Jun (Tony) Cheng was indicted for his participation in the color display tube conspiracy. Yeh is charged with violating the Sherman Act, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $1 million fine for individuals.

The maximum fine may be increased to twice the gain derived from the crime or twice the loss suffered by the victims if either of those amounts is greater than the maximum fine.

This case is part of an ongoing joint investigation by the Antitrust Division’s San Francisco Office and the FBI in San Francisco. Anyone with information concerning illegal conduct in the cathode ray tube industry is urged to call the San Francisco Field Office of the Antitrust Division at 415-436-6660 or visit http://www.justice.gov/atr/contact/newcase.htm.

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