Panasonic, Whirlpool execs charged in price-fixing

September 28, 2011 | 08:49

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Former executives from Japanese giant Panasonic and Brazilian subsidiaries of Whirlpool and Tecumseh were indicted Tuesday on charges of price-fixing, the Justice Department said.

The indictment in US District Court in Detroit charged the executives with conspiring to suppress and eliminate competition in the United States and elsewhere by fixing prices for compressors that are used to cool refrigerators and freezers in homes and businesses.

Ernesto Heinzelmann, former president of Brazil's Embraco, a division of Whirlpool; Gerson Verissimo, ex-president of Tecumseh do Brasil, a subsidiary of US firm Tecumseh Products Company; and Naoki Adachi, general manager of global sales for the refrigeration devices division of Panasonic are the first executives charged in the scheme.

In September 2010, Japanese electronics giant Panasonic and Embraco agreed to plead guilty to price fixing and pay a $141 million fine, but the Justice Department hinted at the time that more charges could be forthcoming.

The illegal collusion -- in which the defendants are accused of personally coordinating price increases during meetings and accepting payments for compressors sold at collusive prices -- lasted from 2004 through the end of 2007, according to the indictment.

If convicted Heinzelmann, Verissimo and Adachi each face up to 10 years in prison and a $1 million fine.

"Cracking down on international price fixing cartels has been and will continue to be among the most significant priorities for the antitrust division," Sharis Pozen, acting assistant attorney general in charge of the Justice Department's Antitrust Division, said in a statement.

AFP

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