Taiwan firm fined $500M for LCD price-fixing
The sentences handed down Thursday are among the harshest penalties ever given in an antitrust criminal case.
The Associated Press
SAN FRANCISCO — A Taiwanese company was fined $500
million Thursday and its former president and executive vice president
were each sentenced to three years in prison for their leading roles in a
global LCD screen price-fixing conspiracy.
The sentences handed down Thursday are among the harshest penalties ever given in an antitrust criminal case.
Still, the U.S. Department of Justice complained that the punishments were not enough. Federal prosecutors demanded a $1 billion fine and a 10-year prison sentence for the executives.
U.S. District Judge Susan Illston said she rejected the demand because A.U. Optronics has already paid out millions to settle a class-action lawsuit and still faced other lawsuits in the United States and around the world.
She also said the two executives — Hsuan Bin Chen and Hui Hsiung — didn’t deserve the lengthy prison sentences demanded by prosecutors because they acted not for personal gain like someone operating a Ponzi scheme but out of their sincere belief that they were aiding a troubled industry plagued by overproduction and plummeting prices.
Both men declined to address the court.
“There were a lot of business pressures they responded to,” the judge said. “There was relatively little personal motivation.”
Nonetheless, the judge said the evidence of their guilt was “overwhelming” and that “they did know it was illegal.”
The company and seven other competitors who have previously pleaded guilty were convicted of sending executives to quarterly meetings between 2001 and 2006 to hash out production levels and prices they would charge the world’s largest technology companies for their liquid display screens.
The tech giants include companies such as Apple, Dell Computers and a long list of television and computer makers. Many of the meetings’ agendas and conclusions were documented and presented to the jury as evidence.
The jury convicted the company and men in March.
Prosecutors said the conspiracy artificially inflated the cost of those products for consumers around the world.
One-third of the $74 billion in LCD screen sales implicated in the scheme were made by U.S. companies.
“These defendants played a pivotal role in a global conspiracy that had an unprecedented impact on the pocket books of American consumers,” federal prosecutor Heather Tewksbury unsuccessfully argued for harsher sentences. “They have done nothing to accept any responsibility for what they did.”
DOJ is wrapping up a yearslong investigation of the global price-fixing scheme that artificially increased the price of LCD screens used in televisions, computers and other electronic products made by Apple, Dell Computers and many of the largest high-tech companies in the United States.
In July, the company, along with Toshiba and LG, agreed to pay a combined $571 million to settle one of the lawsuits.
Other manufactures, including Hitachi, Sharp and Samsung, agreed in December to pay $538 million to settle.
Seven other Asian manufacturers and 22 of their executives have previously pleaded guilty and agreed to pay a combined $890 million in fines.
The 10 executives who have been sentenced so far received prison terms ranging from six months to a little more than a year in prison.
The $1.39 billion in criminal fines won in court make the LCD screen price-fixing case the largest criminal antitrust case ever prosecuted by the DOJ, surpassing the breakup of a vitamin cartel in the late 1990s that netted $875 million in criminal fines.
The sentences handed down Thursday are among the harshest penalties ever given in an antitrust criminal case.
Still, the U.S. Department of Justice complained that the punishments were not enough. Federal prosecutors demanded a $1 billion fine and a 10-year prison sentence for the executives.
U.S. District Judge Susan Illston said she rejected the demand because A.U. Optronics has already paid out millions to settle a class-action lawsuit and still faced other lawsuits in the United States and around the world.
She also said the two executives — Hsuan Bin Chen and Hui Hsiung — didn’t deserve the lengthy prison sentences demanded by prosecutors because they acted not for personal gain like someone operating a Ponzi scheme but out of their sincere belief that they were aiding a troubled industry plagued by overproduction and plummeting prices.
Both men declined to address the court.
“There were a lot of business pressures they responded to,” the judge said. “There was relatively little personal motivation.”
Nonetheless, the judge said the evidence of their guilt was “overwhelming” and that “they did know it was illegal.”
The company and seven other competitors who have previously pleaded guilty were convicted of sending executives to quarterly meetings between 2001 and 2006 to hash out production levels and prices they would charge the world’s largest technology companies for their liquid display screens.
The tech giants include companies such as Apple, Dell Computers and a long list of television and computer makers. Many of the meetings’ agendas and conclusions were documented and presented to the jury as evidence.
The jury convicted the company and men in March.
Prosecutors said the conspiracy artificially inflated the cost of those products for consumers around the world.
One-third of the $74 billion in LCD screen sales implicated in the scheme were made by U.S. companies.
“These defendants played a pivotal role in a global conspiracy that had an unprecedented impact on the pocket books of American consumers,” federal prosecutor Heather Tewksbury unsuccessfully argued for harsher sentences. “They have done nothing to accept any responsibility for what they did.”
DOJ is wrapping up a yearslong investigation of the global price-fixing scheme that artificially increased the price of LCD screens used in televisions, computers and other electronic products made by Apple, Dell Computers and many of the largest high-tech companies in the United States.
In July, the company, along with Toshiba and LG, agreed to pay a combined $571 million to settle one of the lawsuits.
Other manufactures, including Hitachi, Sharp and Samsung, agreed in December to pay $538 million to settle.
Seven other Asian manufacturers and 22 of their executives have previously pleaded guilty and agreed to pay a combined $890 million in fines.
The 10 executives who have been sentenced so far received prison terms ranging from six months to a little more than a year in prison.
The $1.39 billion in criminal fines won in court make the LCD screen price-fixing case the largest criminal antitrust case ever prosecuted by the DOJ, surpassing the breakup of a vitamin cartel in the late 1990s that netted $875 million in criminal fines.
2012.3.14
Taiwan company, 2 top executives found guilty of fixing prices of LCD screens
Washington Post
SAN FRANCISCO — A Taiwan company and two of its top executives have been found guilty of working with competitors to inflate prices of liquid screen display screens used in computer monitors and televisions. Federal jurors in San Francisco on Tuesday ...
| Taiwan firm found guilty of LCD price fixing in the US BBC News AU Optronics, one of Taiwan's biggest flat screen makers, has been found guilty of fixing prices of liquid crystal display panels in the US. Two senior executives of the firm have also been convicted for colluding with rival manufacturers. See all stories on this topic » |  BBC News |
Reuters
By Ronnie Cohen | TAIPEI/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A jury found AU Optronics Corp guilty of criminal price-fixing in a case in which the Taiwan-based electronics company was accused of conspiring with other manufacturers of liquid crystal display ...
延宕許久的友達案13日在舊金山宣判，舊金山加州聯邦法院陪審團做出裁決，陪審團認定友達光電涉嫌壟斷面板價格的罪名成立，副董事長陳炫彬與佳世達總經理熊暉被認定違反反托辣斯法，友達律師則表示將會上訴。 美國司法部發表聲明說，友達光電面臨10億美元罰款。
〔記者陳梅英／台北報導〕友達涉及反托拉斯案美陪審團做出判決，友達以及美國子公司與兩名主管熊暉、陳炫彬均被判有罪，另外3名主管陳來助與李燦榮、梁兆 龍則無罪，友達表示對於陪審團有罪決定感到深切失望，但仍有信心最終可以獲得清白，法院將於數月內判處罰金，友達將對陪審團決定及任何罰金的裁決提出上 訴。
友達今天一早就發出聲明，並指出，本案地方法院已把被告無罪辯護的核心重要法律議題，即「是否在台灣所舉行的會議所發生的任何事情要受到美國法律管轄 」交由上訴法院來決定，而陪審團的決定並未回應此重要議題。
友達強調，友達於此案審理時已證明美國司法部所提的證據是扭曲而不完整的。美國司法部指稱友達的代表藉由參加在台北舉行的「水晶會議」而與競爭同業控制 價格，然而有好幾位曾參與水晶會議而配合美國司法部作證的證人於審理作證表示本身並無議價授權，甚至根本沒有與競爭對手達成價格協議。事實上，某配合美國 司法部作證的證人於審理時作證表示水晶會議所討論的價格與真實世界的交易價格無關。
此外，友達也提出了無爭議的證據，證明友達在2001年至2006年間的訂價持續地低於所謂的「水晶會議價格」 ，友達相信這是友達未參與聯合訂價協議的有力證據。
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