LG and Sharp are among three Companies who were today fined a massive $900 million dollars for engaging in a criminal activity in that they tried to fix the price of LCD screens used in Apple iPods and Motorola Razr phones.
LG alone have been described as the biggest offender resulting in them copping a $624 Million dollar fine second highest criminal fine ever imposed by the department's antitrust division.
According to TWICE Magazine the criminal fines against LG Display, Sharp and Chunghwa Picture Tubes were made by the US Department of Justice's (DOJ) antitrust division.
Sharp a Japanese Company issued a statement this morning claiming that they had agreed to pay a fine of $180 million "regarding price fixing of TFT LCDs with respect to a limited number of customers." Further, Sharp's chairman and CEO and certain board members have offered shareholders and other concerned parties to voluntarily return 10 percent to 30 percent of their remuneration for three months starting in December 2008.
The statement went on to say that "Sharp understands the gravity of this situation and will strengthen and thoroughly implement measures to prevent the recurrence of this kind of problem, and will earnestly work to regain the public's confidence".
Chunghwa has agreed to pay a $65 million fine for its participation in the price-fixing scheme from September 2001 through December 2006.
