The Antitrust Division just issued a press release announcing that it collected $1.861 billion in criminal fines for its fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, 2014.  The highlights are that four companies paid fines in excess of $100 million (the Sherman Act maximum), led by the $425 million fine against Bridgestone Corp.   The full press release is below:

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE AT
THURSDAY, JANUARY 22, 2015 (202) 514-2007
WWW.JUSTICE.GOV TTY (866) 544-5309

ANTITRUST DIVISION ANNOUNCES FISCAL YEAR TOTAL
IN CRIMINAL FINES COLLECTED

The Department of Justice collected $1.861 billion in criminal fines and penalties resulting from Antitrust Division prosecutions in the fiscal year that ended on Sept. 30, 2014. Contributing in part to one of the largest yearly collections for the division, five of the companies paid in full penalties that exceeded $100 million, including a $425 million criminal fine levied against Bridgestone Corp., the fourth-largest fine the Antitrust Division has ever obtained. The second-largest fine collected was a $195 million criminal fine levied against Hitachi Automotive Systems Ltd. The three additional companies that paid fines and penalties exceeding $100 million were Mitsubishi Electric Corp. with $190 million, Toyo Tire & Rubber Co. Ltd. with $120 million and JTEKT Corp. with $103.2 million. The collection total also includes penalties of more than $561 million received as a result of the division’s LIBOR investigation, which has been conducted in cooperation with the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. In addition, in the last fiscal year the division obtained jail terms for 21 individual defendants, with an average sentence of 26 months, the third-highest average ever.

“The size of these penalties is an unfortunate reminder of the powerful temptation to cheat the American consumer and profit from collusion,” said Assistant Attorney General Bill Baer for the Antitrust Division. “We remain committed to ensuring that corporations and individuals who collude face serious consequences for their crimes.”