Taiwan-based flat-panel-maker HannStar Display Corp (瀚宇彩晶) said yesterday that an agreement reached between its former executive and the US Department of Justice (DOJ) would have no impact on the company’s operations.
GUILTY PLEA
The DOJ announced on Wednesday that Wu Jui-hung (吳睿紘), a former executive director for HannStar’s global marketing and sales division, agreed to plead guilty and serve seven months in a US jail for his role in a global conspiracy to fix the prices of TFT-LCD panels.
NO EFFECT
HannStar said that as Wu has left the company and is no longer its employee, the guilty plea will not affect the company’s operations.
A DOJ statement cited a one-count felony charge filed in the US District Court in San Francisco as saying Wu conspired with others to undermine competition by fixing the TFT-LCD panel prices from as early as Sept. 21, 2001, until about Jan. 31, 2006.
In addition to the jail term, Wu agreed to pay a US$20,000 fine and to assist the DOJ in its ongoing investigation.
The agreement is subject to court approval, the DOJ said.
As a result of the investigation, more than US$890 million in fines have been issued to date, with 21 executives and eight companies in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan charged with price fixing.
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