INVESTOR AGREES TO PLEAD GUILTY FOR ROLE IN RIGGED BID FORECLOSURE FRAUD SCHEME

FROM:  U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT, ANTITRUST 
Investigations Have Yielded 36 Plea Agreements to Date

WASHINGTON — A Northern California real estate investor has agreed to plead guilty for his role in conspiracies to rig bids and commit mail fraud at public real estate foreclosure auctions in Northern California, the Department of Justice announced.

Felony charges were filed today in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in San Francisco against Daniel Rosenbledt of Hillsborough, Calif. Rosenbledt is the 36th individual to plead guilty or agree to plead guilty as a result of the department’s ongoing antitrust investigations into bid rigging and fraud at public real estate foreclosure auctions in Northern California.

According to court documents, Rosenbledt conspired with others not to bid against one another, but instead to designate a winning bidder to obtain selected properties at public real estate foreclosure auctions in San Mateo and San Francisco counties, Calif. Rosenbledt was also charged with conspiring to use the mail to carry out schemes to fraudulently acquire title to selected properties sold at public auctions, to make and receive payoffs, and to divert to co-conspirators money that would have otherwise gone to mortgage holders and others.

Court papers stated Rosenbledt conspired with others to rig bids and commit mail fraud at public real estate foreclosure auctions in San Mateo County beginning as early as April 2008 and continuing until about January 2011. Rosenbledt was also charged with similar conduct in San Francisco County beginning as early as November 2009 and continuing until about January 2011.

“The Antitrust Division remains committed to vigorously pursuing conspirators who collude at foreclosure auctions at the expense of lenders and distressed homeowners,” said Bill Baer, Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division. “A competitive process benefits those homeowners who are looking for the best possible outcome during a difficult situation.”

The filing stated that the primary purpose of the conspiracies was to suppress and restrain competition and to conceal payoffs in order to obtain selected real estate offered at San Mateo and San Francisco County public foreclosure auctions at non-competitive prices. When real estate properties are sold at these auctions, the proceeds are used to pay off the mortgage and other debt attached to the property, with remaining proceeds, if any, paid to the homeowner. According to court documents, these conspirators paid and received money that otherwise would have gone to pay off the mortgage and other holders of debt secured by the properties, and, in some cases, the defaulting homeowner.

“For those who engage in illegal anticompetitive practices at foreclosure actions, we will hold you accountable for your actions and bring you to justice,” said David J. Johnson, FBI Special Agent in Charge of the San Francisco Field Office.  “The FBI and the Antitrust Division are committed to rooting out those who undermine the real estate market and take advantage of legitimate home buyers and sellers.”

A violation of the Sherman Act carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $1 million fine for individuals. The maximum fine for the Sherman Act charges may be increased to twice the gain derived from the crime or twice the loss suffered by the victims if either amount is greater than $1 million. A count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud carries a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine. The government can also seek to forfeit the proceeds earned from participating in the conspiracy to commit mail fraud.

The charges today are the latest filed by the department in its ongoing investigation into bid rigging and fraud at public real estate foreclosure auctions in San Francisco, San Mateo, Alameda and Contra Costa counties, Calif. These investigations are being conducted by the Antitrust Division’s San Francisco Office and the FBI’s San Francisco Office. Anyone with information concerning bid rigging or fraud related to public real estate foreclosure auctions should contact the Antitrust Division’s San Francisco Office at 415-436-6660, visit www.justice.gov/atr/contact/newcase.htm or call the FBI tip line at 415-553-7400.

Today's charges were brought in connection with the President’s Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force. The task force was established to wage an aggressive, coordinated and proactive effort to investigate and prosecute financial crimes. With more than 20 federal agencies, 94 U.S. Attorneys’ offices and state and local partners, it’s the broadest coalition of law enforcement, investigatory and regulatory agencies ever assembled to combat fraud. Since its formation, the task force has made great strides in facilitating increased investigation and prosecution of financial crimes; enhancing coordination and cooperation among federal, state and local authorities; addressing discrimination in the lending and financial markets and conducting outreach to the public, victims, financial institutions and other organizations. Over the past three fiscal years, the Justice Department has filed nearly 10,000 financial fraud cases against nearly 15,000 defendants including more than 2,900 mortgage fraud defendants.

FUJIKURA LTD. WILL PAY $20 MILLION CRIMINAL FINE FOR ROLE IN PRICE FIXING AUTO PARTS IN U.S. CARS

FROM:  DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Monday, April 23, 2012
Fujikura Ltd. Agrees to Plead Guilty to Price Fixing on Auto Parts Installed in U.S. Cars Company Agrees to Pay $20 Million Criminal Fine
WASHINGTON – Tokyo-based Fujikura Ltd. has agreed to plead guilty and to pay a $20 million criminal fine for its role in a conspiracy to fix prices of automotive wire harnesses and related products installed in U.S. cars, the Department of Justice announced today.

According to a one-count felony charge filed today in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan in Detroit, Fujikura engaged in a conspiracy to rig bids for and to fix, stabilize and maintain the prices of automotive wire harnesses and related products sold to an automaker in the United States and elsewhere. According to the charge, Fujikura’s involvement in the conspiracy lasted from at least as early as January 2006 until at least February 2010. According to the plea agreement, which is subject to court approval, Fujikura has agreed to pay a criminal fine and to cooperate with the department’s ongoing investigation.

“The Antitrust Division will remain vigilant in its efforts to detect and prosecute anticompetitive conduct in this important industry, which affects virtually every American consumer,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Sharis A. Pozen in charge of the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division.  “The division has focused its enforcement efforts in industries essential to consumers’ everyday lives, and we, along with our law enforcement partners, have been successful in bringing to justice companies and executives engaged in illegal price fixing conspiracies.”

To date, including Fujikura, eight executives and five companies have been charged and have agreed to plead guilty in the department’s ongoing antitrust investigation into the auto parts industry. Three of the companies have pleaded guilty and have been sentenced to pay criminal fines totaling more than $748 million. Seven of the executives have pleaded guilty and have been sentenced to serve a total of more than 122 months in jail.

Fujikura manufactures and sells automotive wire harnesses, which are automotive electrical distribution systems used to direct and control electronic components, wiring and circuit boards in cars.

According to the charge, Fujikura and its co-conspirators carried out the conspiracy by agreeing, during meetings and conversations in Japan, to allocate the supply of automotive wire harnesses and related products on a model-by-model basis and sold the parts at non-competitive prices to an automaker in the United States and elsewhere.

Fujikura is charged with price fixing in violation of the Sherman Act, which carries a maximum fine of $100 million for corporations. The maximum fine for the company may be increased to twice the gain derived from the crime or twice the loss suffered by the victims of the crime, if either of those amounts is greater than the statutory maximum fine.

ATTORNEY GENERAL HOLDER SPEAKS AT SHERMAN ACT AWARD CEREMONY

FROM:  DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Attorney General Eric Holder Speaks at the Sherman Act Award Ceremony Washington, D.C. ~ Tuesday, April 10, 2012
Thank you, Sharis [Pozen].   I appreciate your kind words – and your outstanding leadership as Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Antitrust Division.   Every day, your work strengthens the protections, and the great progress, that we’ve gathered to celebrate – and, especially during this period of transition, I am deeply grateful for your stewardship, your commitment to fair and aggressive antitrust enforcement, and the many contributions that you and your team continue to make.

It’s an honor to be with you all, and a pleasure to join Sharis in welcoming so many Division leaders – past and present – distinguished guests, and great champions of sound economic policy and strong consumer protection.   I would particularly like to thank the U.S. Marine Band, the Joint Armed Forces Color Guard, and Shawnee Ball for opening today’s ceremony.   And I’d like to recognize Judge [Michael] Boudin– along with Doug Melamed and Tim Muris – for their participation this afternoon.   Thank you for taking the time to be join our celebration.

Finally, I’d like to extend a special welcome to today’s guest of honor – one of our nation’s leading experts in the field of antitrust law and one of the most effective advocates ever to stand on the side of American consumers – Jim Rill.   Jim, it’s a pleasure to have you – and so many of your family members – back at the Department.

Those of you who’ve had the privilege – and great benefit – of working with Jim know that he is a fearless and tireless advocate for fairness and justice.   For decades, he has worked to protect the American people from anticompetitive conduct – and has stood out as an effective and innovative leader in this field.   During his tenure here at the Department, where he served as Assistant Attorney General for the Antitrust Division, he updated and enhanced the handling of antitrust matters, helped to shape sweeping policy guidelines, and negotiated critical international agreements.   He served as a mentor – and an excellent role model – for a generation of public interest lawyers, including some of the people in this room.   And he helped build the Antitrust Division into the dynamic component it is today.

In 1997, when my predecessor, Attorney General Janet Reno, asked him to Co-Chair the Justice Department’s International Competition Policy Advisory Committee, Jim did not hesitate to answer the call of duty.   The recommendations that he helped to develop continue to serve as guideposts.   And it’s no exaggeration to say that he, his colleagues, and the partners they brought to the table from around the world helped to usher in a new era of global antitrust enforcement.

But government service is only one of the ways in which Jim has given back – to his country as well as his profession – over the course of his remarkable career.   As a past Chairman of the ABA’s Section of Antitrust Law, he lent his considerable experience and expertise to a host of policy questions affecting the entire bar – work he continues today as a member of the Section’s International Task Force.   And as an attorney in private practice, he regularly provides counsel to major corporations in both domestic and international matters.

In many ways, Jim’s career has been built on the same commitment that inspired John Sherman’s landmark effort, more than a century ago, to provide legal mechanisms for protecting America’s economic freedom, growth, and opportunity.

A decade before the dawn of the 20th century, Senator Sherman stood before his colleagues in Congress and declared that “Monopolies [are] inconsistent with our form of government. . . . If we will not endure a king as a political power, we should not endure a king over the production, transportation, and sale of any of the necessaries of life.   If we would not submit to an emperor, we should not submit to an autocrat of trade."

Today, the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division continues to live up to Senator Sherman's words – and regularly employs the tools and authorities provided under one of our nation’s most important and enduring laws, the Sherman Antitrust Act, to keep the American economy free from the grip of anticompetitive practices and entities.

Now, as much as ever before, we are committed to smart, fair, and aggressive antitrust enforcement across all sectors of our economy.   And there are few who understand or appreciate the importance of this work better than today’s awardee.

As an antitrust lawyer, Jim has remained steadfast in his commitment, not to any ideology, but to a basic overriding principle – enshrined in law 122 years ago – of a free but fair American marketplace.

As we carry on this essential work, I know everyone in this room is – and, for more than two decades, has been – proud to call Jim Rill a partner, a friend, and a valued member of the Justice Department family.   The American people have been privileged to have him as a strong ally and a fierce advocate.   And the legal profession has benefitted immensely from the leadership of a man upon whom the United States will today bestow an honor reserved for those defined by their “substantial contributions to the protection of American consumers and the preservation of economic liberty.”

Jim, on behalf of the Department of Justice, it’s my pleasure to present you with this year’s Sherman Act Award, which – as the inscriptions reads – is: Presented to James F. Rill, in recognition of his significant lifetime contributions to the development and enforcement of antitrust law and the advancement of antitrust policy internationally. With thanks from a grateful nation.

Jim, your example is an inspiration to us all.   Your indelible contributions – to this Department, and to our nation – are beyond measure.   And your service to the American people has set a standard to which we all should aspire.

Thank you, and congratulations on this well-deserved honor.

DENSO CORPORATION EXECUTIVE AGREES TO PRISON TIME

The following excerpt is from the Department of Justice website:
Monday, March 26, 2012
DENSO Corporation Executive Agrees to Plead Guilty to Price Fixing and Bid Rigging on Auto Parts Installed in U.S. Cars Executive Also Agrees to Serve Significant Prison Time
WASHINGTON – An executive of Japan-based DENSO Corporation, has agreed to plead guilty and to serve time in prison for his role in a conspiracy to fix prices and rig bids for heater control panels (HCPs) installed in U.S. cars, the Department of Justice announced today.

According to a one-count felony charge filed today in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan in Detroit, Norihiro Imai, a Japanese national, along with co-conspirators, engaged in a conspiracy to rig bids for and to fix, stabilize and maintain the prices of HCPs sold to customers in the United States and elsewhere. According to the charge, Imai’s involvement in the conspiracy lasted from at least as early as August 2006 until at least June 2009. According to the plea agreement, which is subject to court approval, Imai has agreed to serve one year and one day in a U.S. prison, to pay a $20,000 criminal fine and to cooperate with the department’s ongoing investigation.

“Today’s guilty plea demonstrates the Antitrust Division’s commitment to hold executives accountable for engaging in illegal conduct that leads to higher prices for American businesses and consumers,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Sharis A. Pozen in charge of the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division. “Criminal antitrust enforcement is a top priority, and the division will continue to work with its law enforcement partners in the ongoing investigation in the auto parts industry.”

DENSO manufactures and sells a variety of automotive electrical parts, including HCPs. HCPs are located in the center console of an automobile and control the temperature of the interior environment of a vehicle. According to the charge, Imai and his co-conspirators carried out the conspiracy by, among other things, agreeing during meetings and discussions to coordinate bids submitted to, and price adjustments requested by, automobile manufacturers.

Including Imai, eight individuals and three companies have been charged in the government’s ongoing investigation into price fixing and bid rigging in the auto parts industry. DENSO pleaded guilty on March 5, 2012, and was sentenced to pay a $78 million criminal fine. Yazaki Corporation, another Japanese automotive electrical component supplier, pleaded guilty on March 1, 2012, and was sentenced to pay a $470 million criminal fine.  Additionally, four Yazaki executives were charged on Jan. 30, 2012, and have agreed to plead guilty. On Nov. 14, 2011, Furukawa Electric Co. Ltd. pleaded guilty and was sentenced to pay a $200 million fine. Three of Furukawa’s executives also pleaded guilty and were sentenced to serve prison sentences in the United States ranging from a year and a day to 18 months.

Imai is charged with price fixing in violation of the Sherman Act, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a $1 million criminal fine for individuals. The maximum fine for an individual may be increased to twice the gain derived from the crime or twice the loss suffered by the victims of the crime, if either of those amounts is greater than the statutory maximum fine.

The current prosecution arose from an ongoing federal antitrust investigation into price fixing, bid rigging and other anticompetitive conduct in the automotive parts industry, which is being conducted by the Antitrust Division’s National Criminal Enforcement Section and the FBI’s Detroit Field Office with the assistance of the FBI headquarters’ International Corruption Unit.