LG, Chunghwa Execs Will See Jail Time
Both companies paid criminal fines -- $400 million for LG and $65 million for Chunghwa -- and assisted the U.S. Department of Justice in its investigation, but four executives between the two companies were still handed prison terms ranging from six to nine months as part of the plea agreement, the finalized terms of which were announced late last week.
According to a release from the Department of Justice, the most severe sentence is for Chunghwa's former chairman and CEO Chieng-Hon Lin, who received nine months in a U.S. prison and a $50,000 fine.
Chang Suk Chung, LG's former vice president of monitor sales, will serve a seven-month sentence and pay a $25,000 fine. Chih-Chun Liu, formerly Chunghwa's vice president of LCD sales, will serve a seven-month sentence and pay a $30,000 fine. Hsueh-Lung Lee, who also served as Chunghwa's vice president of LCD sales during the period noted by the Department of Justice, will serve a six-month sentence and pay a $20,000 fine.
"These cases involve the first Taiwanese nationals to face imprisonment in the United States for an antitrust offense," said Deborah A. Garza, acting assistant attorney general in charge of the Antitrust Division, in a Department of Justice statement. "The Department of Justice is committed to holding accountable all conspirators who harm American consumers, no matter where they live or where they commit the crime."
LG first pled guilty to the conspiracy on Dec. 15, and Chunghwa pled guilty on Jan. 14. Sharp was also involved -- it pled guilty to separate charges related to price fixing and LCDs sold specifically to Dell, Apple and Motorola -- but the Department of Justice did not report any prison terms for its executives.
The investigation was a joint effort by the Department of Justice's Antitrust Division in San Francisco and the San Francisco bureau of the FBI.