Category Archives: fools ‘n frauds

Death of the Diesel: Daimler Guilty of Selling Dirty Diesels in Germany – Pays $957,000,000 Fine Rather than Litigate

The negligent violation of supervisory duties occurred on the department head level. It appears that the Daimler has refrained from taking a legal action challenging the fine notice because senior executives are not implicated. The public prosecutor’s administrative offense proceeding against Daimler AG is thereby fully concluded. This is not so at Volkswagen Group where senior executives were indicted today. Continue reading

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SEC Charges and Settles False Financial Disclosures Against Nissan, Former CEO Carlos Ghosn, Former Director Greg Kelly  

Critics no doubt will say the settlement is laughable given the amount of money involved. Continue reading

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Nissan CEO Hiroto Saikawa Forced Out Over Ghosn Matter

The move comes following a report from the beleaguered company’s Audit Committee that recognizes several instances of misconduct from the findings of the internal investigation that is only partially available publicly in filtered form. On May 14, 2019, Nissan belatedly issued numerous amendments to its past annual securities reports, correcting director compensation figures to reflect the amounts that should originally have been disclosed. Continue reading

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Brexit – UK Car Production Declines -10.6%. Exports Hit

British car manufacturing output declined -10.6% in July, with 108,239 units produced, according to figures released by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). This was the 14th successive month of decline as ongoing weakness in major EU and … Continue reading

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Honda Database Leaks 134M Rows of Employee Data

The information available in the database appeared to be something like an inventory of all Honda internal machines. This included information such as machine host name, MAC address, internal IP, operating system version, which patches had been applied, and the status of Honda’s endpoint security software. Continue reading

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California, Automakers Defying Trump Agree on Emissions

On April 13, 2018, however, the Trump Administration took the first step toward dismantling the national program when it issued a revised final determination that alleged the federal greenhouse gas standards for model year 2022-2025 vehicles were no longer appropriate.kxhw@aol.com Continue reading

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Facebook to Pay $100m for Misleading Investors on Risks from Misuse of User Data Helping Russian Attacks on US Democracy

According to the SEC’s complaint, in 2014 and 2015, the now-defunct advertising and data analytics company, Cambridge Analytica, paid an academic researcher, through a company he controlled, to collect and transfer data from Facebook to create personality scores for approximately 30 million Americans.  Continue reading

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SEC Charges Engine Manufacturing Company Execs with Fraud

According to the complaint, filed in federal court in Chicago, Gary Winemaster, Power Solutions International Inc.’s former CEO, and two former senior sales executives, Craig Davis and James Needham, caused Power Solutions to fraudulently record revenue for purported sales of products that were not complete, that the customer had not agreed to accept, for which the price was falsely inflated, and from improper “bill and hold” arrangements. Continue reading

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Hispanics and Millennials – Big Changes in 2020 Electorate

Non-whites will account for a third of eligible voters – their largest share ever – driven by long-term increases among certain groups, especially Hispanics. At the same time, one-in-ten eligible voters will be members of Generation Z,  the Americans who will be between the ages 18 and 23 next year. That will occur as Millennials and all other older generations account for a smaller share of eligible voters than they did in 2016. Continue reading

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Ghosn – Muzzled – Bites Back After Nissan Board Ouster

“This is not about greed or dictatorship, this is about a plot, this is about a conspiracy, this is about a backstabbing,” Ghosn said. “I am innocent of all the charges that have been brought against me,” he said. Continue reading

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Directors Carlos Ghosn, Greg Kelly Voted Out at Nissan

Hiroto Saikawa, President, among others, came under shareholder scrutiny for his protested innocence of having any knowledge of the scandal even though he was one of Ghosn’s “ right hand men…” Continue reading

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Death of the Diesel – European Commission’s Ongoing Antitrust Probe Opens Formal Investigation into Possible Collusion Between Audi, BMW, Daimler, Porsche And VW

The EU maintains that Volkswagen, Audi, Porsche colluded, in breach of EU antitrust rules, to avoid competition on the development and roll-out of technology to clean the emissions of gasoline and diesel passenger cars. Continue reading

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If Trump Closes the Mexican Border, the Entire U.S. Auto Industry Shuts Down in Days

There are few vehicles assembled in the United States that do not rely on Mexico for at least some parts content. Vehicle assembly is the quintessential “complete set” — an assembly plant cannot build a partial vehicle. Even if a few relatively minor parts are missing, automakers do not make a practice of storing the vehicles and then repairing them when the parts are ready. This repair work alone creates the potential for quality issues. Since it is impossible to do a partial build, the assembly plant and many of its associated supplier plants will be idle until the automaker can obtain sufficient stock to relaunch production. Continue reading

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GM Strikes Out Against Usually Winless UAW as Mexican-Made Blazer Pulled from Opening Day Lineup in Detroit

As AutoInformed has covered extensively since November 2018 when GM said it will idle five plants in North America this year and early next year – affecting more than 6000 jobs – the Oshawa shut-out was minor league with major league and world-wide consequences. Continue reading

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Brexit Bloody Hell! Now Stock Exchange Issues

Well, it seems that there are risks posed by jurisdictional share trading obligations, which “could increase market fragmentation and impose unnecessary costs on investors,” the SEC said in a whistling past the graveyard observation. Hell, it’s not even clear that the UK can continue to be a key market for funds and fund managers in the United States. Continue reading

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