March 24, 2006 – Three executives of Samsung are the latest to be punished for their roles in a DRAM price-fixing conspiracy, according to the US Justice Department.
The trio — Sun Woo Lee, Samsung’s senior manager of DRAM sales; Yeongho Kang, associate director, DRAM marketing for Samsung’s US subsidiary; and Young Woo Lee, sales director for Samsung’s German subsidiary — have pled guilty and face jail times of 7-8 months and fines of $250,000 each.
Earlier this month four sales and marketing executives from Hynix Semiconductor pleaded guilty and accepted similar jail times and fines; four Infineon execs did likewise in late 2004.
The DOJ’s investigation has racked up more than $700 million in fines, targeting multiple DRAM manufacturers.