Denso Executives Sentenced To Over A Year In Prison For Price Fixing

On August 5, two Denso Corp executives were sentenced to over a year in prison following their guilty plea to participating in a conspiracy to fix prices in violation of the antitrust laws. Yuji Suzuki, a former senior manager in the Toyota Parts Division, was sentenced to 16 months in prison and Hiroshi Watanabe, a former group leader in the same division, was sentenced to 15 months. Their conspiracy to rig bids and fix prices involved electronic control units and heater control panels sold to Toyota Motor Company. Their part in the conspiracy spanned 3 years.

Previously, two other Denso executives have plead guilty to antitrust violations. Norihiro Imai, a former assistant manager of the Toyota Sales Division, was sentenced to 12 months and one day in prison and a $20,000 fine and Makoto Hattori was sentenced to 14 months in prison and a $20,000 fine. In addition, Denso agreed to pay $78 million in 2012 to settle the antitrust investigation of the company.

Indeed, the auto parts antitrust investigation has spawned a number of criminal prosecutions of individuals. For example, six Yazaki executives were criminally prosecuted receiving sentences ranging from 14-24 months in prison and fines of $20,000 each and three Furukawa...