Nine Japanese automotive suppliers and two former executives have agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy and pay over $740 million in criminal fines for fixing prices of auto parts sold all-over the world.
The pleas were confirmed by the Justice Department who said the case is the biggest criminal antitrust investigation they've ever dealt with, according to the New York Times.
The investigation has involved authorities from Asia, North America and Europe. It's resulted in $1.6 billion in fines since 2011.
"These international price-fixing conspiracies affected more than $5 billion in automobile parts sold to U.S. car manufacturers," Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. said in a press statement. "In total, more than 25 million cars purchased by American consumers were affected by the illegal conduct."
The suppliers provided radiators, starters, safety belts, and other components for new vehicles according to USA Today.
Some form of credit back to car buyers or manufacturers is not expected, according to Karl Braurer, an industry watcher at KBB.com.
"The end of these auto-parts price-fixing conspiracies should allow for greater competition - and lower prices," says Lacey Plache, senior economist at research and auto-price site Edmunds.com, who spoke with USA Today.
At least two executives will be going to prison.
More than $1.6 billion in criminal fines have been obtained so far, and 17 auto-parts executives are imprisoned or are awaiting sentencing as result of the probe.
The multiyear probe involved agencies from Japan, South Korea, Canada, Australia, Europe, and Australia.
"Company executives met face to face in the United States and Japan - and talked on the phone - to reach collusive agreements to rig bids, fix prices and allocate the supply of auto parts sold to U.S. car companies," said Holder, according to USA Today. ""In order to keep their illegal conduct secret, they used code names and met in remote locations."
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