Category Archives: litigation

Bridgestone Latest Japanese Scofflaw as Auto Supplier Price Fixing Scandal Expands Yet Again

Posted on 13 February 2014 by Ken Zino

Including Bridgestone, 26 companies have pleaded guilty or agreed to plead guilty in the department’s ongoing investigation into price fixing and bid rigging in the automotive parts industry. Continue reading →

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EPA 2013 Enforcement Collects $4.5 billion in Criminal Fines

Posted on 10 February 2014 by Ken Zino

The U.S. EPA has released its annual report on enforcement efforts and it shows the agency’s cases resulted in criminal sentences requiring violators to pay more than $4.5 billion in combined fines, restitution and court-ordered environmental projects that benefit communities, and more than $1.1 billion in civil penalties. Continue reading →

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More Japanese Price Fixing. Diamond Electric Execs Guilty

Posted on 1 February 2014 by Ken Zino

Including the latest charges, 28 individuals and 24 companies have caught in the government’s ongoing investigation into price fixing and bid rigging in the auto parts industry. Continue reading →

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Las Vegas Biofuels Fraud Revealed in latest EISA Scam

Posted on 20 January 2014 by Ken Zino

Two men were indicted by a federal grand jury in Las Vegas for offenses involving the badly audited federal renewable fuels program that passed out taxpayer money for the production of biodiesel among other things. Continue reading →

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Predatory Credit Charges on Used Cars Filed by DOJ

Posted on 13 January 2014 by Ken Zino

The defendants engaged in a pattern of “reverse redlining” by targeting African-American customers for installment sale contracts with inflated sales prices, down payments, and interest rates without meaningfully assessing the customers’ credit. Continue reading →

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Texas RV and Motorcycle Importers Fined for CAA Abuses

Posted on 10 January 2014 by Ken Zino

Savoia, BMX Imports, BMX Trading, and their owner, Terry Zimmer, allegedly illegally imported motorcycles that didn’t comply with the Clean Air Act, or CAA Continue reading →

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Chesapeake Energy to Pay Millions for Wetlands Destruction

Posted on 30 December 2013 by Ken Zino

No criminal charges against executives were pursued, however. So the environmental rhetoric of the Obama Administration is put aside in the latest corporate friendly deal under Eric Holder, his politically appointed Attorney General. Continue reading →

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Hyundai Cops Plea on Mileage Fraud Class Action

Posted on 23 December 2013 by Ken Zino

The fraud produced mileage claims that could be as much as 6 mpg higher than EPA tests showed. About 900,000 vehicles are affected in the largest mileage fraud in history, including the best-selling Kia Optima and Hyundai Elantra sedans. Both makers heavily advertise and promote fuel economy as cornerstones of their brands, of course. Continue reading →

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Prison Time for Perp in Odometer Fraud Case

Posted on 21 December 2013 by Ken Zino

A North Carolina man, Francis Marimo, will spend 18 months in prison for his role in an odometer fraud scam. Continue reading →

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Ally Settles Auto Loan Discrimination Case

Posted on 20 December 2013 by Ken Zino

The agreement is the first joint fair lending enforcement action by the Justice Department and CFPB, which Republicans and their Wall Street and banking cronies continue to fiercely resist. However, in AutoInformed’s view this is not exactly the strongest test case possible. Continue reading →

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BP Engineer Guilty of Obstruction of Justice in Deepwater Horizon Spill

Posted on 19 December 2013 by Ken Zino

Kurt Mix, a former engineer for BP, was convicted yesterday of intentionally destroying evidence requested by federal criminal authorities investigating the 20 April 2010, Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Mix, 52, of Katy, Texas, was convicted by a federal jury in … Continue reading →

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More Japanese Price Fixing from Stanley Electric

Posted on 27 November 2013 by Ken Zino

While the Obama Administration is pushing forward on a secret and job-destroying trade agreement with Japan, another Japanese company, Stanley Electric is caught as part of a huge price fixing cartel, which is hurting the U.S. auto industry and autoworkers as Oriental disdain for U.S. law continues unabated Continue reading →

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Japanese Price Fixing Scandal Expands Again. Now Toyo

Posted on 26 November 2013 by Ken Zino

Diogenes’ search for an honest man would be futile in Japan if the latest, but by no means the last, price fixing scandal is indicative of Asian scorn for western laws. Including Toyo, 22 companies and 26 executives have been charged in the Justice Department’s ongoing investigation into the automotive parts industry. All 22 companies have either pleaded guilty or have agreed to plead guilty and will pay more than $1.8 billion in criminal fines. Of the 26 executives, 20 have been sentenced to serve time in U.S. prisons or have entered into plea agreements calling for prison sentences. Continue reading →

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Carbon Black Maker Cabot Corporation Fined by EPA

Posted on 21 November 2013 by Ken Zino

Boston-based Cabot Corporation, the second largest carbon black manufacturer in the United States, will pay a $975,000 civil penalty and spend an estimated $84 million on technology to control harmful air pollution, resolving alleged violations of the New Source Review (NSR) provisions of the Clean Air Act (CAA). Continue reading →

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Clean Diesel Technologies to pay $1.9 million to ex CFO

Posted on 21 October 2013 by Ken Zino

OSHA’s investigation found that the company violated the whistleblower provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act when it wrongfully terminated the former CFO for warning the board of directors about ethical and financial concerns raised by a proposed merger. Continue reading →

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