Legal News

Panasonic, Whirlpool subsidiary to plead guilty

By (Breaking Legal News)

Japanese electronics giant Panasonic Corp. and a subsidiary of Michigan-based appliance maker Whirlpool Corp. have agreed to plead guilty and pay more than $140 million in criminal fines for their roles in an international price-fixing scheme, the U.S. Justice Department said Thursday.

The companies conspired to fix the prices of refrigerant compressors, the government said in a written statement.

Refrigerant compressors are placed into refrigerators and freezers, take in low-pressure refrigerant, compress it and pump out a high-pressure vapor that condenses and subsequently cools the devices.

In papers filed in Detroit federal court, Panasonic and Embraco North America Inc. are accused of working to fix prices on the compressors from 2004 to 2007 in the U.S. and abroad.

The Justice Department said Embraco would pay $91.8 million and Panasonic $49.1 million in criminal fines as part of plea agreements that are subject to court approval.

Christine Varney, assistant attorney general in charge of the antitrust division said the charges were the first brought by the department in its worldwide probe of the refrigerant compressors market.

Full post as published by Breaking Legal News on October 01, 2010 (boomark / email).