Japan Firm to Pay $34 Million to U.S. in Bid-Rigging Case

A subsidiary of electronics giant NEC Corp. agreed Thursday to pay $34 million to the U.S. government to settle charges it rigged bids on contracts at an American military base.

The U.S. government alleged that NEC Information Technologies won 27 telecommunications contracts at Yokota Air Base near Tokyo between 1981 and 1988 by rigging bids with its competitors, enabling the company to earn excess profits.

The Fair Trade Commission, an investigative body of Japan’s Ministry of International Trade and Industry, also ruled Thursday that the NEC subsidiary and two smaller telecommunication companies had violated Japan’s anti-monopoly law in bidding on Yokota contracts. The commission said its investigations found 27 cases of improper bidding and profits.

It fined NEC Information Technologies $1.7 million, Taimei Telephone $160,000 and Kyowa Densetsu $132,600.