PANASONIC Corporation and Embraco North America have agreed to pay a total of $140.9m in criminal fines in the US for their role in an international conspiracy to fix the prices of refrigeration compressors.
According to separate one-count felony charges filed yesterday in the US District Court in Detroit, Japanese manufacturer Panasonic and Delaware-based Embraco, participated in a conspiracy to fix the prices of refrigerant compressors sold in the United States and elsewhere.

The department said the conspiracy took place from at least as early as October 14, 2004, until on or about December 31, 2007. According to the plea agreements, which are subject to court approval, both companies will cooperate with the department's ongoing refrigerant compressor investigation. Embraco has agreed to pay $91.8m (£58m) and Panasonic $49.1m (£31m) criminal fine.

'These are the first charges as a result of the Antitrust Division's ongoing investigation into the worldwide refrigerant compressors market,' said Christine Varney, Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Department of Justice's Antitrust Division.

The fines follow raids by anti-trust authorities on a number of refrigeration compressor manufacturers' offices across Europe, the US and Brazil in February 2009. In the operation codenamed zero degrees, 60 federal agents in Sao Paulo searched Whirlpool offices and seized computer equipment. Unannounced raids were also carried out at the offices of Whirlpool and Tecumseh in Brazil and the US, and Danfoss facilities in Denmark, Germany and the US.

Tecumseh was earlier reported to have agreed to pay $7m and up to $250,000 in the US class action with the settlement awaiting court approval.

In October last year Embraco agreed to pay $56.5m to settle its compressor cartel allegations in Brazil.

Antitrust claims in the US against other compressor manufacturers are ongoing.