Ontario court levies $13 million bid-rigging fine on Japanese auto parts supplier

OTTAWA – Showa Corp. has been fined $13 million by an Ontario court after the Japanese auto parts company pleaded guilty to one count of bid rigging.

It’s the second-largest fine to date by Ontario’s Superior Court of Justice and the ninth guilty plea since a federal investigation into bid rigging that was launched three years ago.

Canada’s Competition Bureau says Showa had a secret, illegal arrangement with another supplier for Honda cars manufactured in Canada.

Showa supplies electric power steering gears.

The largest fine to date under the bureau’s campaign was $30 million levied in 2013 on Yazaki Corp. for rigging bids on wire harnesses for Honda and Toyota.