WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two Japanese automotive parts companies, their U.S. subsidiaries, and five executives were charged on Wednesday with participating in a scheme to eliminate competition in auto parts sales, the U.S. Justice Department said on Wednesday.
A federal grand jury in Ohio returned indictments against Tokai Kogyo Co Ltd, its U.S. subsidiary Green Tokai Co Ltd, and executive Akitada Tazumi for allegedly conspiring to rig bids and fix prices of automotive body sealing products sold to Honda Motor Co (T:7267), the department said in a statement.
In a separate indictment in Ohio, Maruyasu Industries Co Ltd, its U.S. subsidiary, Curtis-Maruyasu America Inc, and executives Tadao Hirade, Satoru Murai, Kazunori Kobayashi and Yoshihiro Shigematsu were charged with conspiring to fix prices, allocate customers, and rig bids for automotive steel tubes sold in the United States and elsewhere, the statement said.