デンソー等価格カルテルで総額7億ドルの罰金！

米司法省、欧州連合（EU）など各国の競争当局が2010年から全容解明に向けて調査を進めてきた、自動車部品をめぐる価格カルテル事件。朝日新聞が3月15日、この事件で「日本の自動車部品メーカー社員12人が米国で収監されている」と報じたが、ここにきて企業名や刑の内容などの詳細が明らかになってきた。

　5月22日、朝日新聞がロイター発のニュースとして伝えたところによると、米司法省は21日、デンソーの幹部2人が、トヨタ自動車に販売した自動車の電子部品をめぐる価格操作の罪を認め、刑事捜査に協力することに同意したと発表。一連の価格カルテル事件捜査では9社が関係し、デンソー以外の8社には、東海理化電機製作所、日本精機（新潟県長岡市）、フジクラ、古河電気工業、矢崎総業（東京都港区）、ジーエスエレテック（愛知県豊田市）の日本企業が含まれているという。
http://biz-journal.jp/2013/05/post_2198.html


Denso execs to plead guilty to price fixing in Toyota case

May 21 (Reuters) - Two executives at Japan's Denso Corp have agreed to plead guilty to conspiring to fix prices of electronic auto parts sold to Toyota and will cooperate with an ongoing criminal investigation, the U.S. Justice Department said on Tuesday.

The settlement is the latest in a wide-ranging investigation into price fixing for a variety of car parts that has ensnared nine companies and elicited guilty pleas from 14 executives.

The Denso executives, Yuji Suzuki and Hiroshi Watanabe, both Japanese nationals, will serve time in U.S. prison and pay a criminal fine, the department said. Suzuki agreed to serve a 16-month sentence while Watanabe negotiated 15 months.

Denso itself pleaded guilty in the conspiracy and agreed to pay a $78 million fine last year.

The two men agreed to plead guilty to conspiring to fix the prices of heater control panels that regulate a car's temperature and were sold to Japan's Toyota Motor Corp and a U.S. subsidiary, the Justice Department said.

Suzuki also agreed to plead guilty to conspiring to fix the prices of electronic control units, which regulate power windows, power locks and other electrical systems.

In addition to the prison sentence, each man must also pay a fine of $20,000 and cooperate with the ongoing investigation.

The Justice Department's Antitrust Division has also settled with Autoliv, Tokai Rika Co Ltd, TRW Deutschland Holding GmbH, Nippon Seiki Col Ltd, Fujikura Ltd , Furukawa Electric Co Ltd, Yazaki Corp and G.S. Electech.