The former president and vice president of Osaka, Japan-based Diamond Electric Manufacturing pled guilty for their participation in a global conspiracy to fix prices of ignition coils installed in cars sold in the United States and elsewhere, the Department of Justice announced on Friday. Separate felony charges were filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan in Detroit against Shigehiko Ikenaga and Tatsuo Ikenaga in the latest developments of a wide-ranging price fixing investigation that appears endless and has involved many of Japan’s most prominent auto suppliers.
Including the latest charges, 28 individuals and 24 companies have caught in the government’s ongoing investigation into price fixing and bid rigging in the auto industry.
According to court documents, from at least as early as July 2003 until at least February 2010, the Diamond Electric executives participated in a conspiracy to rig bids for and to fix, stabilize and maintain the prices of ignition coils sold to automakers for installation in vehicles manufactured in the United States and elsewhere.
The automotive manufacturers victimized include Ford Motor, Toyota Motor and Fuji Heavy Industries, commonly known by as Subaru in the U.S..
Shigehiko Ikenaga, president of Diamond Electric during the relevant period, agreed to serve 16 months in a U.S. prison. Tatsuo Ikenaga, Diamond Electric’s managing director, and then vice president beginning in 2008, agreed to serve 13 months in a U.S. prison.
Tatsuo Ikenaga also simultaneously served as president of Diamond Electric’s U.S. subsidiary during the same time. The former executives have each agreed to pay a $5,000 criminal fine and to cooperate with the department’s ongoing investigation. Each of the Ikenaga’s plea agreements is subject to virtually certain court approval. On 10 September 2013, Diamond Electric pleaded guilty for its involvement in the conspiracy and was fined $19 million.
Each executive is charged with price fixing and bid rigging in violation of the Sherman Act, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $1 million criminal fine for individuals. The maximum fine for an individual may be increased to twice the gain derived from the crime or twice the loss suffered by the victims of the crime, if either of those amounts is greater than the maximum fine.
