3 Samsung Execs to Plead Guilty

Three executives from South Korea’s Samsung Electronics Co. agreed to plead guilty and serve jail time for participating in a conspiracy to fix the price of computer memory chips, the U.S. Justice Department said Wednesday.

Each executive agreed to pay a $250,000 fine, cooperate with federal authorities on the investigation and serve prison sentences ranging from seven to eight months for their role in a scheme to raise prices for dynamic random access memory, or DRAM, from 1999 to 2002.

“These pleas should send a clear message that we will hold accountable all conspirators, whether domestic or foreign, that harm American consumers through their illegal conduct,” Atty. Gen. Alberto Gonzales said in a statement.

So far, the long-running Justice Department investigation has resulted in more than $731 million in fines and charges against 12 individuals and four companies, including Samsung, Elpida Memory Inc., Infineon Technologies and Hynix Semiconductor Inc.

Prosecutors say the global conspiracy drove up the price of DRAM chips, which are the most commonly used product for storing and retrieving information in computers and electronic devices.

Companies such as Dell Inc., Compaq Computer Corp., Hewlett-Packard Co., Apple Computer Inc., IBM Corp. and Gateway Inc. had to raise PC prices or reduce the amount of memory installed on their systems to compensate for the higher costs.

The Samsung executives who agreed to the guilty pleas are Sun Woo Lee, senior manager of DRAM sales; Yeongho Kang, associate director of DRAM marketing for Samsung’s U.S. subsidiary; and Young Woo Lee, sales director for the company’s German subsidiary.

Samsung, which is the world’s largest DRAM manufacturer, did not respond to calls seeking comment. A federal judge in San Francisco must approve the deal.