X

Feds demand $1B from LCD maker for price-fixing

After a jury found AU Optronics guilty of colluding with other companies to fix pricing on LCD panels, prosecutors are seeking a fine of $1 billion and 10 years prison time for two former executives.

darakerr.jpg
darakerr.jpg
Dara Kerr Former senior reporter
Dara Kerr was a senior reporter for CNET covering the on-demand economy and tech culture. She grew up in Colorado, went to school in New York City and can never remember how to pronounce gif.
See full bio
Dara Kerr

The U.S. Department of Justice has reined down hard on a Taiwanese LCD screen maker in court, demanding $1 billion in fines and significant jail time for two former executives.

According to the Associated Press, AU Optronics carried out an extensive price-fixing scheme that feds said was the most significant ever prosecuted in the U.S. During a federal trial in March, the jury found both AU Optronics and two of its executives, Hsuan Bin Chen and Hui Hsiung, guilty of price-fixing.

The original complaints for the case alleged that the company worked to create an international "cartel" to set and control the pricing of LCD panels. In addition to the $1 billion in fines, federal prosecutors are also seeking 10-year prison sentences for Chen and Hsiung.

AU Optronics' lawyers asked the court for a reduced fine of $285 million and much lower prison sentences. It's not yet known how the judge will rule.

This is latest in a long line of legal proceedings on the matter. Seven LCD manufacturers, including Samsung and Sharp, allegedly involved in the scheme agreed to a settlement of $553 million last December. Of that sum, about $501 million was set to go toward a refund program for consumers, and about $37 million was to be doled out to governments and others involved for legal damages.