The US Justice Department announced that Japanese auto parts firm Furukawa Electric was fined USD 200 million and three company executives sentenced to prison for price fixing and bid rigging.

The department said that Furukawa and the executives pleaded guilty to the felony charges, the first in an ongoing investigation into price fixing and bid rigging by international auto parts suppliers.

The three executives, Mr Junichi Funo, Mr Hirotsugu Nagata and Mr Tetsuya Ukai, agreed to serve 12 to 18 months in a US prison for their roles in the conspiracy. The fines and sentences still have to be approved by a court.

Ms Sharis Pozen, the department's acting assistant attorney general, said that "As a result of this international price fixing and bid rigging conspiracy, automobile manufacturers paid noncompetitive and higher prices for parts in cars sold to US consumers."

According to the department, the price fixing ring was involved in the supply of wiring harnesses and related products to automakers over at least a decade to 2010.

Ms Pozen did not name any other companies suspected as taking part in the price fixing ring, but told reporters that the investigation is ongoing.

Two of the executives, Mr Funo and Mr Ukai, worked in Japan in the company's Honda sales division, but Mr Funo also spent time during the period under investigation in the Detroit area, the hub of US auto manufacturing.

Mr Nagata was general manager of sales at Furukawa's US subsidiary, and also worked in the Detroit area. Ms Pozen said the company had cooperated with investigators, but declined to say whether that resulted in reduced fines or prison sentences. She also said the investigation involved with authorities from other countries, but declined to be specific.

(Sourced from www.chinapost.com.tw)