A criminal investigation into price-fixing and bid rigging in the auto parts industry between 2000 and 2010, conducted by the U.S. Department of Justice, Japan Fair Trade Commission, and antitrust officials in Europe, has expanded, according to DOJ’s deputy assistant attorney, Scott Hammond. The probe, which previously involved a number of products including automatic wire harnesses, instrument panel clusters and fuel senders, has expanded to new products and could expand to additional companies. So far, nine companies have pled guilty in the ongoing investigation, including Autoliv, Denso Corp., Fujikura Ltd., Furukawa Electric Co. Ltd., G.S. Electech, Nippon Seiki Co. Ltd., Tokai Rika, TRW Deutschland Holding GmbH and Yazaki Corp., according to the DOJ. The DOJ has imposed $809 million in fines to date, including $470 million against Yazaki. In October, Tokai Rika agreed to plead guilty and pay a $17.7 million fine for its role in the conspiracy to fix prices of heater control panels installed in cars sold in theU.S.and elsewhere. Tokai Rika also agreed to plead guilty to a charge of obstruction of justice related to the investigation of the Antitrust Division, according to the DOJ. Twelve executives have also pled guilty in the probe, including ten Japanese executives, who surrendered toU.S.jurisdiction and are serving sentences of one to two years, the DOJ confirmed.