Executive pleads guilty in capacitor price-fixing scheme

An official at a Japan-based manufacturer of electrolytic capacitors pleaded guilty Wednesday to price fixing in San Francisco federal court.

Tokuo Tatai, a senior executive officer at Elna Co. Ltd., is to serve a year and a day in jail as part of a plea agreement with the antitrust division of the U.S. Department of Justice. He's to be sentenced Oct. 10 by U.S. District Judge James Donato, who accepted his plea on Wednesday.

The case is part of several price-fixing actions filed against 10 executives and eight companies. Tatai was accused of participating in the conspiracy from January 2009 to January 2012. United States v. Isawa et al., 15-CR00163 (N.D. Cal., filed March 12, 2015).

Another criminal indictment accused his company of price-fixing from 1997 to 2014. Elna pleaded guilty last October. Donato sentenced the company in January to five years probation and fined it $3.825 million as recommended by prosecutors.

The fine was below the guideline range of $5.16 million to $10.32 million, but U.S. Department of Justice attorney Howard J. Parker said in a sentencing memorandum that "Elna has provided self-incriminating evidence concerning unlawful activities by itself and its co-conspirators" that warranted a downward departure.

Heather S. Tewksbury and Thomas Mueller of Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP represented Elna. United States v. Elna Co. Ltd., 16-CR00365 (N.D. Cal., filed Aug. 22, 2016).

Assistant Attorney General Makan Delrahim praised the Tatai investigation in a press release Wednesday.

"The Antitrust Division will hold accountable foreign nationals who participate in conspiracies that harm American consumers," Delrahim said. "This capacitors conspiracy affected millions of American consumers who use electronic devices in their everyday lives."

Jacklin Chou Lem prosecuted Tatai.

Sophie A. Hood of Keker, Van Nest & Peters LLP represented Tatai.