Following guilty pleas to criminal price-fixing by several LCD manufacturers, plaintiff states filed suit against a number of LCD manufacturers, alleging that top executives of several companies held numerous secret meetings from at least 1999 through at least 2006 for the purpose of exchanging information and setting prices on LCD panels. According to the complaint, companies such as Dell, Apple, and Hewlett Packard were among those targeted by the manufacturers’ price-fixing scheme. According to the lawsuit, the illegal overcharges were ultimately borne by state consumers and state government purchasers. The suit also alleges fraudulent concealment of the conspiracy. The lawsuit seeks monetary damages, civil penalties and injunctive relief under the Sherman Act and state antitrust statutes. California, Illinois and Washington filed suits in their respective state courts. The defendants sought to consolidate them in the Northern District of California through CAFA, but all cases were remanded. The parties reached a settlement in December 2011 with some defendants (not LG, Toshiba an AU Optronics) under which they agreed to pay $538.5 million in damages and $14.7 million in civil penalties to the states, and to cooperate in the trial against the other defendants. The states reached a settlement in July 2012 with the remaining defendants, under which they would pay $543.5 million in damages and $27.5 million in civil penalties. total recovery was more than $1.1 billion.