Four Executives Agree to Plead Guilty in Global LCD Price-Fixing Conspiracy

The U.S. Department of Justice reports in its press release (quotation, not an independent finding): “WASHINGTON — Executives from LG Display Co. Ltd. and Chunghwa Picture Tubes Ltd. have agreed to plead guilty and serve jail time in the United States for participating in a global conspiracy to fix prices in the sale of Thin Film Transistor-Liquid Crystal Display (TFT-LCD) panels, the U.S. Department of Justice announced today. According to a one-count felony charge filed today in U.S. District Court in San Francisco, Chang Suk "C.S." Chung, a Korean LG executive, conspired with unnamed employees from other panel makers to suppress and eliminate competition by fixing the prices of TFT-LCD panels from on or about Sept. 21, 2001, to on or about June 1, 2006. According to a separate one-count felony charge, also filed today in U.S. District Court in San Francisco, Chieng-Hon "Frank" Lin, a Taiwanese former executive from Chunghwa, and Chih-Chun "C.C." Liu and Hsueh-Lung "Brian" Lee, Taiwanese current employees of Chungwha, are charged with participating in the same conspiracy at various times during the period from Sept. 14, 2001, to on or about Dec. 1, 2006. Under the plea agreements, which must be approved by the court, all four executives have agreed to serve a term of imprisonment, pay a criminal fine and assist the government in its ongoing TFT-LCD investigation. TFT-LCD panels are used in computer monitors and notebooks, televisions, mobile phones, and other electronic devices. In 2006, the worldwide market for TFT-LCD panels was approximately $70 billion. "These cases involve the first Taiwanese nationals to face imprisonment in the United States for an antitrust offens”