TMCnet News
AG Koster Announces Missouri Consumers to Receive Payments from Antitrust Settlement with LCD Manufacturers(Targeted News Service Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) JEFFERSON CITY, Mo., Oct. 21 -- The Missouri Attorney General issued the following news release: Attorney General Chris Koster announced today that distribution of more than $24 million in total LCD antitrust settlement payments was approved by the court overseeing the litigation. Missourians who purchased televisions, laptops and desktop computers with LCD screens between January 1, 1999, and December 31, 2006, and who filed claims for reimbursement from the settlements Koster reached with manufacturers in 2011 and 2012, will receive payment for their damages within three weeks. Missouri consumers who filed valid claims can expect to receive more than $43 for each monitor or notebook computer they claimed and more than $86 for any LCD television they claimed. More than 25,000 Missouri residents and businesses filed claims during the 2012 claim-filing period. In total, Missouri consumers and businesses are expected to recover more than $24 million as a result of the settlements Koster reached with ten LCD manufacturers. Koster previously recovered $2.2 million in civil penalties, which was placed in Missouri's School Fund. Koster said his office, along with seven other state attorneys general and the federal government, investigated the foreign LCD industry for several years. The investigation uncovered evidence of a high-level conspiracy involving secret meetings in which the companies' executives agreed to raise prices for their LCD screens. Koster's lawsuit was filed in August 2010 in the Federal District Court for the Northern District of California. The settlements were joined by the States of Arkansas, California, Florida, Michigan, New York, West Virginia and Wisconsin along with a national class action. The following companies and their affiliates settled claims: * AU Optronics Corporation; * Chimei Innolux Corp; * Chunghwa Picture Tubes, Ltd.; * Epson Imaging Devices Corporation; * HannStar Display Corporation; * Hitachi, Ltd; * LG Display Co., Ltd.; * Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.; * Sharp Corporation; * Toshiba Corporation. The settlements exceeded $1 billion and, together, are the largest ever reached in an antitrust case affecting consumers and businesses buying products for their own use. Eight of the defendant companies also entered guilty pleas to federal antitrust charges, paying more than $1.3 billion in fines, and several executives served prison sentences as a result of the conspiracy. "We are pleased that this litigation has drawn to a close and that Missouri consumers who overpaid for LCD displays will receive their settlement payments within the month," said Koster. Koster said more information about the settlement is available on his website at http://ago.mo.gov/lcd/lcdsettlement.htm. Missouri consumers with questions about their claims can contact the settlement administrator, Rust Consulting, at [email protected] or call the toll-free hotline at 855-225-1886. You may also contact the Missouri Attorney General's Office at 800-392-8222. TNS 30FurigayJof 141022-4908461 30FurigayJof (c) 2014 Targeted News Service |