International compressor maker, Tecumseh (TECUA) said from its U.S. office late Wednesday that it has been subpoenaed in a new international investigation into an ongoing cartel running the multi-billion dollar refrigeration compressor industry.

The investigation began with the public prosecutor in Sao Paulo state, Brazil. Investigators there, coupled with a total of 60 federal agents, searched the offices of Tecumseh competitor Whirlpool (WHR) late Tuesday. The agents left with bags full of computers, laptops and other archival material.

Federal authorities said Wednesday that they would not comment on an ongoing investigation.

Whirlpool said it was cooperating with the federal police, Brazil's version of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Two managers at Tecumseh in Brazil said they were not aware of the company being served subpoenas.

Federal authorities swept through Whirlpool's Sao Paulo and Santa Catarina state offices Tuesday in an operation called Zero Grau, or Zero Degrees, with the objective to find evidence of a global cartel in the selling of hermetic compressors for refrigeration. The compressors are used in household refrigerators and freezers, as well as commercial vending machines and water coolers.

The investigation included Whirlpool and Tecumseh offices in Europe, the U.S. and Brazil.

It is unclear whether or not an ex-employee from Whirlpool, Tecumseh or Panasonic's Matsushita was instrumental in opening the federal investigation.

A public relations firm handling Panasonic do Brasil Ltda said that the Brazilian subsidiary, and its headquarters in Japan, have not commented yet on the subject, or whether they were subpoenaed.

If charged, managers from the company, or companies, involved with aiding and abetting in the cartel can get as much as two to five years imprisonment, with fines charged to the corporation ranging between 1% to 30% of the company's gross revenue. Individuals charged with the anti-competitive crime are required to pay between 10% and 50% of the charge levied on the corporation.

Brazilian authorities said in a press release that a price fixing scheme was in place for nearly 12 years.

Brazil sells around 10 million compressors yearly, at prices ranging from 70 Brazilian reals ($30.43) and BRL800 per unit.

Local press reported Wednesday that 2008 losses from the cartelization of hermetic compressors could be on the order of BRL125 million, or $425 million.

Whirlpool's compressor business, also known as Embraco, is worth around $1.5 billion annually.

Brazilian anti-trust authorities have been pressing ahead with its anti-cartel program since 2003. As a result, the number of search warrants has increased from around 11 in 2005 to 19 in 2006 and 84 in 2007. Less than half of those warrants resulted in an arrest.

Company managers that come forward to denounce cartelization are granted immunity.

One of the more recent cartel cases in Brazil involved three privately held mining companies. Federal police investigators uncovered the illegal practices in 2005 and the three companies were fined three years later as much as 22.5% of their 2005 revenues.

-By Kenneth Rapoza, Dow Jones Newswires;5511-8812-5961; kenneth.rapoza@dowjones.com