Ding Hui Joe is charged with conspiring to eliminate competition by fixing prices of TFT-LCD panels from September 2001 through early 2006.

The panels are used in computer monitors, notebooks, TVs and mobile phones.

Joe participated in secret meetings in hotel rooms in Taipei, where executives exchanged information about panel sales to ensure that each was selling at the agreed-upon prices, the DOJ alleges.

The maximum penalty for Joe is 10 years in prison and a US$1 million fine. That fine could grow, however, depending on how much the court figures he gained from the price fixing.