A third former Chi Mei Optoelectronics Corp (奇美電子) executive has agreed to plead guilty to participating in a global conspiracy to fix the price of TFT-LCD panels, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) said in a press release on Wednesday.
Wen-hung “Amigo” Huang, Chi Mei’s former director of sales, has also agreed to serve a jail term in the US for a felony charge filed in US District Court in San Francisco, the DOJ said.
The US authorities accused Huang of participating in the global conspiracy from Sept. 14, 2001 to Dec. 1, 2006.
In April, former Chi Mei president Ho Jau-yang (何昭陽) and Chu-hsiang “James” Yang (楊柱祥), a Chi Mei sales executive, pleaded guilty to charges of fixing the prices of flat panels used in computer monitors, notebooks, televisions, mobile phones and other electronic devices, according to previous DOJ statements.
Under his plea bargain, Huang agreed to serve nine months in jail, pay a US$25,000 fine and assist the department in its ongoing price-fixing investigation, the DOJ said, adding that Huang’s plea bargain is subject to court approval.
Asked to respond to Huang pleading guilty, a public relations official at Chimei Innolux Corp (奇美電子) said yesterday that the company had no comment on the latest development in the price-fixing case. Chimei Innolux became the nation’s largest LCD panel maker following a three-way merger between Chi Mei, Innolux Display Corp (群創光電) and TPO Display Co (統寶光電) in March.
The official, who declined to be named, did not want to reveal Huang’s Chinese name and other personal information, nor comment on whether other executives were also involved. She said only that Huang was not an executive at the company any more.
So far, 18 executives from Taiwan’s Chi Mei and Chunghwa Picture Tubes Ltd (華映), South Korea’s LG Display Co and Sharp Corp, as well as Japan’s Hitachi Displays Ltd and Epson Imaging Devices Corp, have pleaded guilty, receiving fines totaling more than US$890 million, the DOJ said.
additional reporting by Lisa Wang
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