Diamond Electric pleads guilty to price fixing

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Japanese auto supplier Diamond Electric Manufacturing Co. has agreed to plead guilty and pay a $19 million criminal fine for its role in a price-fixing scheme. The U.S. Department of Justice said Tuesday that Diamond Electric rigged bids and fixed prices on ignition coils it sold to Ford Motor Co., Toyota Motor Corp. and others. The conspiracy lasted from 2003 through 2010. Also Tuesday, the department said that Takayoshi Matsunaga has agreed to serve a year in prison and pay a $20,000 fine for fixing the prices of seat belts sold to Toyota between 2008 and 2011. Matsunaga is a Japanese employee of Swedish auto supplier Autoliv Inc. Ten companies and 15 executives have pleaded guilty as part of the Justice Department's ongoing investigation into auto industry price fixing. Published: Thu, Jul 18, 2013