Yazaki Corp., Denso Corp. and four Yazaki executives agreed to plead guilty to auto parts price-fixing and bid-rigging conspiracies, the US Department of Justice announced Monday, and will pay a total of $548 million in criminal fines.

A statement from the Department of Justice reads: 

Two Japanese suppliers of automotive electrical components–Yazaki
Corporation and DENSO Corporation–have agreed to plead
guilty and to pay a total of $548 million in criminal fines for their
involvement in multiple price-fixing and bid-rigging conspiracies in the
sale of parts to automobile manufacturers in the United States, the
Department of Justice today announced. Four executives, all Japanese
nationals, have also agreed to plead guilty and to serve prison time in
the United States.

Yazaki has agreed to pay a $470 million criminal fine–the second largest
criminal fine obtained for a Sherman Act antitrust violation–and DENSO
has agreed to pay a $78 million criminal fine. The four executives from
Yazaki–Tsuneaki Hanamura, Ryoji Kawai, Shigeru Ogawa and Hisamitsu
Takada–will serve prison time ranging from 15 months to two years. The
two-year sentences would be the longest term of imprisonment imposed on a
foreign national voluntarily submitting to U.S. jurisdiction for a
Sherman Act antitrust violation. The fine amount and prison sentences
are subject to court approval.

In a statement, FBI special agent Andrew G. Arena noted: “This criminal activity has a significant impact on the automotive
manufacturers in the United States, Canada, Japan and Europe and had
been occurring at least a decade. The conduct had also affected commerce
on a global scale in almost every market where automobiles are
manufactured and/or sold.”

To read the Justice Department’s entire press release, go here.