[WaydayFep]

FBI raid 3 Toyota suppliers
Feb 25, 2010

CHICAGO - THE US offices of three Toyota suppliers were raided by the FBI in what one company said was an antitrust investigation, officials said on Wednesday.

News of the raid came as Toyota president Akio Toyoda was being grilled by US lawmakers about auto defects which have led to accidents, deaths and the recall of some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide.

Warrants were served late Tuesday on the Detroit-area offices of three Japanese parts suppliers: Denso International America, Yazaki North America and Tokai Rika, also known as Tram, the Federal Bureau of Investigation said.

'This is not related to the investigation into Toyota recalls,' Denso spokesman Bridgette LaRose Gollinger told AFP. The Detroit-area headquarters of Denso's US subsidiary was 'inspected' by the FBI and the US Justice Department 'in regard to US antitrust laws,' Ms Gollinger wrote in an e-mail.

Denso 'is cooperating with this investigation', Ms Gollinger said, adding 'we cannot comment on information related to the inspection'. Toyota said it had not been contacted by federal authorities about the case.

'Toyota is aware that certain suppliers have been contacted by government officials, but we have limited information about the scope of the investigation,' the automaker said in a statement. The FBI would not confirm or deny Denso's assertion that the warrants were in relation to an anti-trust case or comment on whether Toyota was involved. Representatives for Yazaki and Tokai Rika were not immediately available for comment. -- AFP