Takata executive indicted for fixing seatbelt prices

An executive of Takata Corp., a Japanese auto parts manufacturer, has been indicted by a federal grand jury for participating in a conspiracy to fix seatbelt prices. 

Hiromu Usuda was charged with conspiring to rig bids for and to fix, stabilize and maintain prices of seatbelts sold to Toyota Motor Corp., Honda Motor Co., Nissan Motor Co., Mazda Motor Corp. and Fuji Heavy Industries, best known as Subaru, a Department of Justice news release said.

{mosads}Last year, Takata made headlines when it recalled faulty airbags believed to be in 8 million cars. Accidents involving the airbags, which exploded in some cases when they were deployed in humid conditions, were linked to five deaths. 

The recall drew concern from lawmakers over the way manufacturers and federal regulators were handling the recall process.  

Thursday’s indictment alleges that from at least January 2005 to February 2011, Usuda and others attended meetings with co-conspirators and agreed to rig bids, allocate the supply and fix the prices of seatbelts sold to the automobile manufacturers. 

Usuda could receive a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a $1 million fine. 

A total of 50 individuals have been charged in the DOJ’s ongoing investigation into price fixing and bid rigging in the auto parts industry. Thirty-two companies either pleaded guilty or agreed to plead guilty and pay a total of more than $2.4 billion in fines.

“Antitrust violators who refuse to accept responsibility for their crimes leave us no choice but to indict,” Brent Synder, deputy assistant attorney general for DOJ’s Antitrust Division’s criminal enforcement program, said in the release.

“We will continue to prosecute those that commit these crimes.”