Category Archives: litigation

Panasonic Exec Indicted in Toyota Price Fixing Scam

Posted on 24 September 2013 by Ken Zino

A federal grand jury in Detroit has indicted a Panasonic Automotive Systems executive for his role in an international conspiracy to fix prices of switches and steering angle sensors sold to Toyota. Continue reading →

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CITGO Fined for Pollution

Posted on 20 September 2013 by Ken Zino

CITGO Petroleum Corporation will pay a $737,000 civil penalty and start projects to reduce harmful air pollution in a deal cut by the Department of Justice and EPA with the Houston-based, Venezuelan-owned company. Continue reading →

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Two Fujikura Executives Indicted for Price Fixing

Posted on 20 September 2013 by Ken Zino

A federal grand jury in Detroit returned an indictment against two Fujikura Ltd. executives for their roles in an international conspiracy to fix prices of auto parts used in automotive wire harnesses sold to Subaru and installed in U.S. cars. Continue reading →

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Total to Pay $8.75 Million for Continued Refinery Violations

Posted on 20 September 2013 by Ken Zino

Total Petrochemical USA will pay an $8.75 million fine for failing to comply with the terms of a 2007 settlement with the United States that resolved alleged violations of the Clean Air Act at its Port Arthur, Texas, refinery. Continue reading →

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G.S. Electech Executive Indicted for Price Fixing

Posted on 18 September 2013 by Ken Zino

The criminal charge was the first to be filed in Kentucky where Toyota has extensive operations as part of an ongoing Department of Justice investigation into anti-competitive conduct in the automotive parts industry. Continue reading →

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Asian Auto Lending Discrimination in Los Angeles?

Posted on 9 September 2013 by Ken Zino

It is common practice for banks and other lenders to set a base interest rate or so-called “buy rate” and then for the auto dealership to “mark up” the interest rate to the final rate the customer pays on the loan for the car. The complaint alleges that Union Auto Sales charged higher interest rate markups to non-Asian customers from at least 2004 to 2006, which constitutes lending discrimination. Continue reading →

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Big West Oil Fined $18 Million for Clean Air Act Violations

Posted on 23 August 2013 by Ken Zino

Big West Oil agreed to pay a $175,000 penalty and to spend $18 million to install emission controls at its refinery in North Salt Lake, Utah, the Department of Justice and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced today. Big West Oil will also invest $253,000 to improve the monitoring and management of potential releases of hydrofluoric acid at the facility. Continue reading →

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DOJ Antitrust Suit Opposes American – US Airways Merger

Posted on 19 August 2013 by Ken Zino

The Department of Justice filed a civil antitrust lawsuit opposing the proposed $11 billion merger between US Airways and American Airlines. DOJ said that the merger would result in world’s largest airline, and would “substantially lessen competition for commercial air travel in local markets throughout the United States and result in passengers paying higher airfares and receiving less service.” Continue reading →

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Florida Fuel Company Owner Indicted for Fraud

Posted on 15 August 2013 by Ken Zino

A Florida-based airline fuel supply company and its former owner and operator were indicted on charges of participating in a scheme to defraud Illinois-based Ryan International Airlines, according to the Department of Justice. Continue reading →

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JPMorgan Chase Employees Charged With Financial Fraud

Posted on 14 August 2013 by Ken Zino

“Our financial system has been hurt in recent years not just by risky bets gone bad, but also, in some cases, by criminal wrongdoing,” opined Attorney General Holder. Critics maintain Holder has done little to prosecute financial fraud at the ratings agencies and on Wall Street that led to the collapse of the U.S. economy, cut American wealth in half, and created the highest rates of unemployment since the Great Depression that is still hurting the American middle class. Continue reading →

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ExxonMobil to Pay Fine for Fracking Wastewater Dumping

Posted on 11 August 2013 by Ken Zino

The consent decree, lodged in the Middle District of Pennsylvania, is subject to a 30-day public comment period and almost certain court approval given the DOJ’s laughably lenient treatment of corporate criminals. Continue reading →

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License Plate Recognition is a Valuable not Abusive Tracking Claims Pressure Group. After NSA that’s Tough to Believe

Posted on 7 August 2013 by Ken Zino

License plate recognition technology is a tool that helps law enforcers solve crimes and save lives, according to a new survey of law enforcement professionals. However, license plate readers mounted on police cars or on road signs and bridges, use small, high-speed cameras to photograph thousands of plates per minute as federal and state governments continue their relentless pursuit of spying and abusive data collection, according to critics. The TSA is subsidizing the technology under the Obama Administration through grants to buy the readers. Continue reading →

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Ford to Pay Record $17.35 Million NHTSA Fine on Recall

Posted on 1 August 2013 by Ken Zino

This was apparently the second plea bargain by an automaker this year to avoid protracted litigation with NHTSA over a safety defect. Chrysler recently negotiated a deal on Jeep gas tank fires. Neither automaker admitted guilt in the NHTSA deals, an important defense in product liability litigation that always surrounds major recalls. If the document was leaked from the National Highway Traffic Safety Agency, then the agency is in clear violation of SEC regulation FD, for full disclosure, which says in essence that material information should be released to all, not selectively. Continue reading →

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Halliburton to Plead Guilty to Criminal Destruction of Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Evidence

Posted on 25 July 2013 by Ken Zino

Halliburton Energy Services will plead guilty to destroying evidence in connection with the Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, the Department of Justice said today. Halliburton was charged with one count of destruction of evidence according to an information filling today in U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Louisiana. Continue reading →

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Fuel Company Head Charged in Kickback Scheme

Posted on 22 July 2013 by Ken Zino

The former owner and operator of two Florida-based airline fuel supply companies appeared today in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida on charges of a kickback scam and defrauding Illinois-based Ryan International Airlines. Continue reading →

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