DoJ Sends Chi Mei Exec to the Slammer for LCD Price Fixing

Bad boys, bad boys, whatcha you gonna do? Whatcha gonna do when the U.S. Department of Justice slaps you silly for conspiring to fix prices of LCD panels on a global scale? So maybe the actual theme song goes a little differently than that, but we have an answer to the question nonetheless. When the DoJ lobs a legal backhand your way for bending the public over and kicking them in the wallet, you're going to serve time in jail. That's the self-imposed plight Wen-Hung "Amigo" Huang, a former executive from Chi Mei Optoelectronics Corporation, finds himself in after pleading guilty to conspiracy to fix LCD prices.

"Under his plea agreement which is subject to court approval, Huang, who was charged today, has agreed to serve 9 months in jail, to pay a $25,000 criminal fine, and to assist the department in its ongoing TFT-LCD investigation," the DoJ said in a statement.


Huang, who is charged with violating the Sherman Act, could have been sentenced to up to 10 years in prison and fined $1 million. His alleged shenanigans, along with those of others who the DoJ says conspired to fix LCD prices, affected "some of the largest computer and television manufacturers in the world, including Apple, Dell, and Hewlett-Packard."

So far in this investigation, over $890 million in fines have been issued and obtained.