The Australian said that a probe on the alleged price-fixing and bid rigging of car parts has yet to be resolved, turning it into the largest criminal antitrust investigation by the US Justice Department. The department has since then slapped criminal charges against several dozens of individuals and companies across continents after the investigation was made public four years ago.
The investigation reportedly came to light when agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation raided the offices of Denso Corp, Yazaki North America and Tokai Rika in Detroit over bid-rigging charges. All three companies have pleaded guilty to their involvement in the scheme.
Officials have said that the car parts price-fixing probe had stood out not only for its scope, but also for the cooperation they have received from countries including Australia and Japan.
According to the probe, the collusion of several players in the scheme had led to US drivers shelling millions of dollars' worth of extra costs.
The Justice Department had said that 34 people have been filed charges and 27 of the firms have agreed to settle or submitted guilty pleas. Moreover, the department said that the firms have agreed to pay over $2.3 billion worth of fines, with Attorney-General Eric Holder vowing to pursue more cases against other players who were involved in the scheme.
The latest development in the probe came last week, when a Japanese executive on Thursday had been charged with conspiracy to fix heater control panels prices that were sold to Toyota. The executive was also charged with persuading workers to destroy evidence to hide the illicit act. The Australian said that the Justice Department will not have any challenges with prosecuting foreign nationals as the latter had already received guilty pleas from other Japanese executives who were earlier charged in relation to the scheme. The department said that the foreign nationals opted to plead guilty to receive punishment as oppose to remain under indictment back home and be subject under travel restrictions that could cripple their careers.
