A United States Forest Service employee was arrested March 1 on a federal grand jury indictment charging him with illegally directing nearly $900,000 in no-bid Forest Service vehicle repair and maintenance work to a JP’s Collision and Auto Body Center, Inc. in Bloomington, Calif. that illicitly paid him more than $360,000 in bribes and kickbacks. […]
Extradited Former Automotive Parts Executive Pleads Guilty to Antitrust Charge
Fugitive for nearly five years, leads guilty to antitrust conspiracy to raise prices of instrument clusters. Eun Soo Kim, a former key accounts manager for Continental Automotive Korea Ltd. and a Korean national, was extradited from Germany and pleaded guilty for his role in an international market allocation and bid-rigging conspiracy involving the sale of […]
Auto Parts Manufacturer Pleads Guilty to Antitrust Conspiracy Involving Steel Tubes
Company agrees to pay $12 million criminal fine. Maruyasu Industries Co. Ltd., an automotive parts manufacturer headquartered in the Aichi Prefecture in Japan, pleaded guilty and was sentenced to pay a $12 million criminal fine for its role in a criminal conspiracy to fix prices, rig bids, and allocate customers for automotive steel tubes incorporated […]
Auto Door Latch Manufacturer to Plead Guilty to Bid Rigging, Pay $6.1 Million Fine
Kiekert AG, an automotive parts manufacturer based in Heiligenhaus, Germany, has agreed to plead guilty and to pay a $6.1 million criminal fine for its role in a conspiracy to rig bids of side-door latches and latch minimodules installed in cars sold in the United States and elsewhere, the Department of Justice announced today. According […]
Two Auto Parts Companies and Five Executives Indicted for Price Fixing
A federal grand jury in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio returned two indictments charging Japanese automotive parts companies, their U.S. subsidiaries, and a total of five executives for their alleged participation in international conspiracies to eliminate competition in the sale of automotive parts sold in the United States and elsewhere, […]
Former Auto Parts Company President Pleads Guilty to Bid-Rigging
The former president of an automotive parts company pleaded guilty yesterday and was sentenced to serve 18 months in a U.S. prison for his role in a conspiracy to fix prices and rig bids for the sale of automotive body sealing products sold in the United States, the Justice Department announced. Keiji Kyomoto, a former […]
U.S. Senator Reiterates Call to Investigate Auto Insurance “Scheme”
A frequent critic of both insurance companies and vehicle manufacturers, U.S. Senator Blumenthal of Connecticut asks Attorney General to investigate possible illegal practices by auto insurers. Asks for DOJ update on 1963 Consent Decree’s applicability to today’s marketplace. U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal announced yesterday that he sent a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder urging […]