Three Foreign Executives Indicted for Their Roles in LCD Price-Fixing Conspiracy

[The Straight Story]

Three Foreign Executives Indicted for Their Roles in LCD Price-Fixing Conspiracy
Two Executives from Taiwan and One Korean Executive Charged in Global Price-Fixing Scheme

WASHINGTON - A federal grand jury in San Francisco returned an indictment against two former executives from Chunghwa Picture Tubes Ltd. (Chunghwa) and one former executive from LG Display Co. Ltd. (LG) for their participation in a global conspiracy to fix prices of Thin Film Transistor-Liquid Crystal Display (TFT-LCD) panels, the U.S. Department of Justice announced today.

The indictment, filed today in U.S. District Court in San Francisco, charges that Cheng Yuan Lin, aka C.Y. Lin, Wen Jun Cheng, aka Tony Cheng, and Duk Mo Koo conspired with unnamed co-conspirators to suppress and eliminate competition by fixing the prices of TFT-LCD panels. The three executives participated in the conspiracy at various times during the charged conspiracy period, which began on or about Sept. 14, 2001, and continued to on or about Dec. 1, 2006.

* Lin participated in the conspiracy from Sept. 14, 2001 to Apr. 7, 2003 as Chunghwa’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. Lin is a resident of Taiwan, Republic of China.
* Cheng participated in the conspiracy from Oct. 5, 2001 to Sept. 24, 2004. For most of this period, Cheng was Chunghwa’s Assistant Vice President of Sales and Marketing. Cheng is a resident of Taiwan, Republic of China.
* Koo participated in the conspiracy from Dec. 11, 2001 to Dec. 1, 2005 as Executive Vice President and Chief Sales Officer for LG. Koo is a citizen and resident of the Republic of Korea.

"The Antitrust Division will vigorously pursue individuals who engage in antitrust crimes targeting U.S. businesses and consumers no matter where those individuals live or commit the crime," said Scott D. Hammond, Acting Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Antitrust Division. "Today’s charges should make clear that there are no safe havens for international cartels that violate the U.S. antitrust laws."

http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2009/February/09-at-092.html