A far-reaching investigation into auto-parts price-fixing has hit a Honda supplier with a central Ohio plant. Showa Corp. has agreed to plead guilty and pay a $19.9 million fine. The company helped to organize a conspiracy to suppress competition and fix prices for power-steering assemblies sold to Honda, according to the complaint filed yesterday in U.S. District Court in Cincinnati.

A far-reaching investigation into auto-parts price-fixing has hit a Honda supplier with a central Ohio plant. Showa Corp. has agreed to plead guilty and pay a $19.9 million fine.

The company helped to organize a conspiracy to suppress competition and fix prices for power-steering assemblies sold to Honda, according to the complaint filed yesterday in U.S. District Court in Cincinnati.

Showa is based in Japan. It serves Honda�s Ohio operations from a plant in Sunbury.

The plea agreement, which still needs court approval, is the latest development in a larger investigation by the federal Department of Justice of price-fixing among auto-parts suppliers that serve several automakers. It has led to prosecutions of other Honda suppliers.

The victims in these cases are the automakers and their customers, who paid higher prices because of the price-fixing, experts said.

�Today�s guilty plea marks the 27th time a company has been held accountable for fixing prices on parts used to manufacture cars in the United States,� said Bill Baer, assistant attorney general in charge of the department�s antitrust division, in a statement.

The companies, including several other Honda suppliers, have agreed to pay a total of $2.3 billion in criminal fines since 2011.

Showa officials were accused in the complaint of working with other companies to agree on the prices they would bid to automakers, and then monitoring the companies� activities to make sure the participants were following through with the plans.

The company was part of the conspiracy from as early as 2007 until as recently as September 2012.

�The number of firms involved in this auto-parts case seems to suggest that they had to have pretty elaborate meetings that, of course, had to be clandestine because the conduct is criminal,� said William H. Page, a University of Florida law professor who focuses on antitrust issues. �It�s remarkable that they were able to carry it out.�

The federal prosecutions will almost certainly be followed by lawsuits by the victimized companies, Page said. �The government case greatly simplifies (the victims�) task in establishing liability,� he said.

American Showa, the U.S. subsidiary of Showa Corp., has its headquarters and a plant in Sunbury with more than 500 employees. The plant makes shock absorbers and power-steering components. The company also has a factory in Blanchester in the Cincinnati area.

The company responded to the case against it, saying in a statement: �American Showa Inc. values its customers, associates and the communities it serves and is fully committed to ethical business practices and to exceeding its customers� expectations. American Showa Inc.�s daily operations will continue as usual, and all fines are the responsibility of Showa Corp.�

Honda spokesman Ron Lietzke had no comment about the specifics of the Showa charges.

�During this entire investigation, Honda has cooperated with authorities,� he said.

Among the other Honda suppliers that have been prosecuted is Stanley Electric, a maker of headlights that is based in Tokyo and has a plant in London, Ohio. The company agreed in November to pay $1.44 million.

dgearino@dispatch.com

@dispatchenergy