Some officials of NTN Corp. have begun to make statements admitting their involvement in fixing prices for bearings during voluntary questioning with Tokyo prosecutors, according to sources.

The officials had previously denied their roles in the case.

Prosecutors are in the final stages of their investigation and are expected to decide soon whether to pursue criminal charges against senior officials of the companies involved or to continue voluntary questioning, the sources said.

Executives and lower-ranking employees of NTN and three other bearing makers — NSK Ltd., JTekt Corp. and Nachi-Fujikoshi Corp. — are alleged to have met several times between March and June 2010, during which they agreed to raise the prices of bearings for automobiles and machine tools and set the size of the hikes.

Officials of JTekt will likely be exempted from criminal charges as they have voluntarily admitted their involvement in the price cartel.

The Tokyo prosecutor's office started questioning the four companies' officials on a voluntary basis last month.

Officials of NSK, JTekt and Nachi-Fujikoshi have already admitted to their roles in the cartel.

Other News:
NTN officials admit price-fixing
SKF Seal solutions for Crushers in West Africa
SKF solutions improve reliability of double clutch transmissions
Schaeffler Demonstrated Power at the first Bodensee Elektrik Rally
RKB strengthens operations in Indian market
MISUMI Group Announced the Relocation of the Head Office
MISUMI's Notice Regarding the Transfer of Shares in a Subsidiary
MISUMI Group Announced Dividend Distribution