A former executive of Japanese auto parts maker G.S. Electech Inc pleaded guilty on Thursday to conspiring to fix the prices of parts used on anti-lock brakes and was sentenced to 13 months in a U.S. prison, the Justice Department said. Singo Okuda, a former manager of the company's Engineering and Sales Division, also agreed to pay a $20,000 fine for conspiring to fix the offers for parts for Toyota Motor Corp .A total of 36 people have been charged in a broad U.S. investigation of price-fixing of more than 30 auto parts, ranging from radiators to windshield wipers and air-conditioning systems. Privately held G.S. Electech, which manufactures, assembles and sells a variety of automotive electrical parts, is one of 27 companies that have settled with the U.S. Justice Department.Okuda's guilty plea came in Kentucky, where Toyota has a large assembly plant. When he was indicted, he was accused of being part of the conspiracy from January 2003 to at least February 2010.Among companies the Justice Department's Antitrust Division has settled with are Autoliv, Tokai Rika Co Ltd , TRW Deutschland Holding GmbH, Nippon Seiki Col Ltd, Fujikura Ltd, Furukawa Electric Co Ltd and Yazaki Corp.
TOYOTA MOTOR CORPORATION is a Japan-based company mainly engaged in the automobile business and financial business. Shares of TM fell by 1.19% or $-1.43/share to $118.61. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $103.38 and as high as $134.94. On average, 326589 shares of TM exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 175373.
Source
