U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder announced that nine Japanese-based auto parts makers have been fined $740 million and two executives have pleaded guilty to their roles in international price-fixing conspiracies that increased the cost of cars sold in the U.S. The effort was the largest criminal investigation the Department of Justice’s antitrust division has ever pursued, and involved more than a dozen independent conspiracies and affected more than $5 billion in commerce. According to the DOJ, auto part company executives used code names, attended meetings in remote locations, and had telephone conversations in the U.S. and Japan to reach collusive agreements to rig bids, set prices, and allocate the supply of auto parts sold to car manufacturers. The alleged price-fixing conspiracies affected numerous products, including air conditioning systems, windshield wipers, and power steering assemblies, among others.