Tag Archives: doj

Nippon Seiki to Plead Guilt of Price Fixing on Instrument Panels

Posted on 28 August 2012 by Ken Zino

Nagoka, Japan-based Nippon Seiki Company has agreed to plead guilty and to pay a $1 million criminal fine for its role in a conspiracy to fix prices of instrument panel clusters installed in cars sold in the United States and elsewhere, the Department of Justice announced today. Including Nippon Seiki, eight companies and 11 executives – most of them Japanese – have been charged in the department’s ongoing investigation into price fixing and bid rigging in the auto parts industry. Continue reading →

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Sinclair Oil to Pay $3.8 Million Penalty for Refinery Pollution

Posted on 20 August 2012 by Ken Zino

Sinclair Oil Corporation will pay a $3.8 million fine and install pollution control equipment at its refineries in Casper and Sinclair, Wyoming after it previously agreed to reduce pollution, but then failed to do so. The U.S. Justice Department said today that the pollution controls would cost about $10.5 million, including other projects to resolve the allegations of violations of the Clean Air Act. Continue reading →

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Yazaki Exec Guilty of Price Fixing Sentenced to 14 Months

Posted on 16 August 2012 by Ken Zino

An executive of Tokyo-based Yazaki Corporation pled guilty for his role in a conspiracy to fix prices of instrument panel clusters today in a U.S. District court in Detroit. Toshio Sudo from Japan is the 11th executive to be charged in the government’s ongoing investigation into price fixing and bid rigging in the auto parts industry. The sweeping investigation, which is ongoing, has implicated some of the auto industry’s largest suppliers, most of them Japanese. Yazaki manufactures and sells a variety of automotive parts, and is a major supplier to Japanese automakers, among other firms. Continue reading →

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Pilot School Owners Go to Prison Over Swiss Bank Accounts

Posted on 31 July 2012 by Ken Zino

The criminal actions by the Roberts were made possible by UBS, which in February 2009 entered into a so-called deferred prosecution agreement whereby the bank admitted to helping U.S. taxpayers hide accounts from the IRS. As part of the agreement, UBS provided the U.S. government with the identities of, and account information for, certain U.S. customers of UBS’s cross-border business, including the Roberts. Continue reading →

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TRW Guilty of Price Fixing Seatbelts, Airbags, Steering Wheels

Posted on 31 July 2012 by Ken Zino

TRW Deutschland pled guilty to price fixing seatbelts, airbags and steering wheels sold to two German automobile manufacturers, and installed in cars sold in the United States yesterday. This is the second case filed over occupant safety systems sold to auto manufacturers as part of the department’s ongoing antitrust auto parts investigation. Continue reading →

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Ex Alabama Cop Arrested for Stealing from Motorists on I-65

Posted on 12 June 2012 by Ken Zino

Former Fort Deposit, Alabama Police Officer Carlos Tyson Bennett was arrested today on charges of stealing money from motorists on Interstate 65 in central Alabama and subsequently trying to conceal his criminal activity. Continue reading →

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Yazaki Exec and Autoliv Plead Guilty on Price Fixing Auto Parts

Posted on 6 June 2012 by Ken Zino

This is the first case filed relating to occupant safety systems sold to auto manufacturers as part of the DOJ’s ongoing antitrust auto parts investigation. An executive of Japan-based Yazaki Corporation has also agreed to plead guilty for his role in a separate conspiracy to fix prices of automotive wire harnesses and related products installed in U.S. cars. Continue reading →

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Mid-America Pipeline and Enterprise Products Fined for Spills

Posted on 29 May 2012 by Ken Zino

As part of a consent decree recorded today in the U.S. District Court in Omaha, Nebraska, in addition to paying a $1,042,000 civil penalty, the companies have agreed to undertake various measures aimed at reducing external threats to their pipeline, enhance their reporting of spills, and spend at least $200,000 to identify and prevent external threats to the pipeline involved in the spills. Continue reading →

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Owner of Hawaii Car Dealerships Pleads Guilty to Tax Crimes

Posted on 29 May 2012 by Ken Zino

Alan Pflueger, the owner of multiple car dealerships and one of Hawaii’s wealthiest people, was at the head of a tax crimes fraud that paid his personal expenses, which were deducted as business expenses by Pflueger Inc, the Justice Department said. Continue reading →

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Judge Rules Against Dealers on Disclosure of Car Loan Terms

Posted on 24 May 2012 by Ken Zino

A federal judge in Washington has ruled that automobile dealers who engage in so-called three-party financing transactions must disclose information to consumers who take out car loans if they are offered less favorable terms, such as a higher interest rate, than the most favorable terms available to the majority of consumers. Continue reading →

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BP Fined $8 Million for Clean Air Act Violation in Indiana

Posted on 23 May 2012 by Ken Zino

BP North America  will pay  an $8 million penalty and invest more than $400 million to install pollution controls and cut emissions from BP’s petroleum refinery in Whiting, Indiana because of air pollution violations under the Clean Air Act. The … Continue reading →

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Natural Gas Company QEPFS Fined for Air Pollution

Posted on 17 May 2012 by Ken Zino

The Department of Justice said QEPFS, formerly Questar Gas Management, would reduce its emissions by removing outdated equipment at its compressor stations, installing additional pollution controls, and replacing the natural gas powered instrument control systems with compressed air control systems. Continue reading →

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Justice Department Seizes Chinese Counterfeit Sports Jerseys

Posted on 11 May 2012 by Ken Zino

Why the Obama Administration in general, and the State Department under Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have not taken stronger actions against ongoing corrupt Chinese business practices is an unanswered issue here. Why Major League baseball and the National Football League, among other sports organizations, remain silent over the widespread counterfeiting of their apparel is a disgrace and mocks their hard-working, law-abiding U.S. fans. Will the multi-millionaire players living off law-abiding fans ever wake up and demand action or are they too rich to care? Continue reading →

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Another DENSO Exec Guilty of Price Fixing and Bid Rigging

Posted on 27 April 2012 by Ken Zino

According to the latest charge, Hattori participated in the conspiracy from at least as early as July 2005, until at least July 2008. During the conspiracy, Hattori was an assistant manager in the Toyota Sales Division at DENSO from July 2005 until December 2006, and a manager in the Toyota Sales Division from December 2006 until at least July 2008. Continue reading →

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Tokyo Based Fujikura Guilty of Auto Parts Price Fixing

Posted on 23 April 2012 by Ken Zino

To date, including Fujikura, eight executives and five companies have been charged and have pled guilty in the department’s ongoing antitrust investigation into the auto parts industry. Three of the companies have pleaded guilty and have been sentenced to pay criminal fines totaling more than $748 million. Seven of the executives have pleaded guilty and have been sentenced to serve a total of more than 122 months in jail. Continue reading →

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