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Execs Indicted in Auto Parts Price Fixing Scandal
A federal grand jury in Detroit has returned two separate indictments against seven executives from Mitsubishi Electric Corp. and Hitachi Automotive Systems Ltd. for their participation in a conspiracy to fix prices of certain automotive parts, the Antitrust Division announced today.
The three-count indictment against Atsushi Ueda, Minoru Kurisaki, and Hideyuki Saito of Mitsubishi Electric Corp. charges them with conspiring to fix the prices of certain automotive products, including starter motors, alternators and ignition coils, sold to Ford Motor Company, General Motors LLC, Chrysler Group LLC, Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd., Nissan Motor Company Ltd., and Honda Motor Company Ltd. in the United States and elsewhere.
Ueda and Kurisaki served as President and General Manager, respectively, in the Automotive Equipment Group at Mitsubishi Electric Corp. They are no longer employed by the company. Saito currently serves as a high-level manager within the Automotive Equipment Group at Mitsubishi Electric Corp.
Another indictment charges Takashi Toyokuni, Ken Funasaki, Kazunobu Tsunekawa, and Tomiya Itakura of Hitachi Automotive Systems Ltd. with conspiring to fix the prices of various automotive parts, including starter motors, alternators, air flow meters, valve timing control devices, fuel injection systems, electronic throttle bodies, ignition coils and inverters and/or motor generators sold to various automobile manufacturers such as, Ford Motor Co., General Motors LLC, Nissan Motor Co. Ltd., Toyota Motor Corp., and Honda Motor Co. Ltd., in the United States and elsewhere.
The executives are charged with participating in a conspiracy that existed from at least as early as January 2000 and continued until about February 2010. Among other things, the executives and their subordinates, according to the indictment, participated in meetings with co-conspirators and reached collusive agreements to rig bids, allocate the supply and fix the prices of certain automotive parts sold to automobile manufacturers.
“Protecting American consumers from anticompetitive practices is our top priority,” said Brent Snyder, Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Antitrust Division’s criminal enforcement program. “The Antitrust Division will continue to pursue the auto parts makers and executives who engaged in this blatant and harmful criminal scheme.”
Mitsubishi Electric Corp. pleaded guilty on Nov. 6, 2013, for its involvement in this conspiracy, and was sentenced to pay a criminal fine of $190 million. Hitachi Automotive Systems Ltd. pleaded guilty on Nov. 6, 2013, for its involvement in this conspiracy, and was sentenced to pay a criminal fine of $195 million.
The Antitrust Division has charged 43 individuals in the government’s ongoing investigation into price fixing and bid rigging in the auto parts industry. This case is part of the division’s ongoing effort to root out anticompetitive conduct in the auto parts industry.
RELATED: Toyota Parts Price-Fixing: Two Japanese Execs Indicted
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Key Facts
- State: Michigan
- Category: White Collar Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release ↗
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