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Category Archives: litigation
Yazaki Exec Guilty of Price Fixing Sentenced to 14 Months
An executive of Tokyo-based Yazaki Corporation pled guilty for his role in a conspiracy to fix prices of instrument panel clusters today in a U.S. District court in Detroit. Toshio Sudo from Japan is the 11th executive to be charged in the government’s ongoing investigation into price fixing and bid rigging in the auto parts industry. The sweeping investigation, which is ongoing, has implicated some of the auto industry’s largest suppliers, most of them Japanese. Yazaki manufactures and sells a variety of automotive parts, and is a major supplier to Japanese automakers, among other firms. Continue reading
Posted in auto news, fools 'n frauds, litigation, news, people
Tagged auto informed, autoinformed.com, automotive news, doj, Ken Zino, price fixing
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Spyker Sues GM For $3 Billion Over Blocking Saab Sale to Chinese
In what could be viewed as the legal equivalent of a Hail Mary pass, Dutch automaker Spyker filed suit against GM in Detroit yesterday, alleging that GM forced the Swedish brand Saab into bankruptcy and then blocked a sale of the company to Chinese investors, which would have ensured its survival. Continue reading
Gibson Guitar Plea Avoids Prosecution for Importing Protected Woods
Gibson Guitar entered into an agreement with the United States today resolving a criminal investigation into allegations that the company violated the Lacey Act first passed in 1900 by illegally purchasing and importing ebony wood from Madagascar and rosewood and ebony from India. Continue reading
Posted in environment, litigation, news
Tagged auto informed, autoinformed.com, automotive news, exotic woods, gibson guitar, Ken Zino, lacey act, sustainability
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Pilot School Owners Go to Prison Over Swiss Bank Accounts
The criminal actions by the Roberts were made possible by UBS, which in February 2009 entered into a so-called deferred prosecution agreement whereby the bank admitted to helping U.S. taxpayers hide accounts from the IRS. As part of the agreement, UBS provided the U.S. government with the identities of, and account information for, certain U.S. customers of UBS’s cross-border business, including the Roberts. Continue reading
Posted in aviation, fools 'n frauds, litigation, news, people
Tagged auto informed, autoinformed.com, automotive news, doj, irs, Ken Zino, national test pilot school, tax fraud
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TRW Guilty of Price Fixing Seatbelts, Airbags, Steering Wheels
TRW Deutschland pled guilty to price fixing seatbelts, airbags and steering wheels sold to two German automobile manufacturers, and installed in cars sold in the United States yesterday. This is the second case filed over occupant safety systems sold to auto manufacturers as part of the department’s ongoing antitrust auto parts investigation. Continue reading
Posted in auto news, fools 'n frauds, litigation, news analysis, people
Tagged auto informed, autoinformed.com, automotive news, bid rigging, doj, Ken Zino, price fixing, trw price fixing
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Unintended Acceleration on 730,000 Ford Escape, Mazda Tribute SUVs under NHTSA Scrutiny in New Preliminary Investigation
The Center for Auto Safety had petitioned NHTSA last week to open defect investigations on the V6 Ford Escape and Mazda Tribute models equipped with cruise control. NHTSA opened its own investigation instead, in a move that was required given the seriousness of the allegations that were about to become public.
In a defensive bureaucratic move, NHTSA also denied a CAS request for potentially embarrassing public hearings about the safety agency’s, as well as Ford Motor’s and Mazda’s lack of corrective action thus far. To make matters more complicated and potentially more image damaging for all involved, it is possible that an earlier safety recall resulted in more unintended acceleration accidents on the models involved. Continue reading
Posted in auto news, litigation, news analysis, recalls, safety
Tagged auto informed, autoinformed.com, automotive news, cas, escape and tribute stuck gas pedals, ford unintended acceleration, Ken Zino, mazda unintended acceleration, nhtsa, odi, toyota unintended acceleration, unintended acceleration
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BP, Marathon, Exxon Mobil, Monsanto, BASF, and Other Hazardous Waste Polluters to Pay for Texas City Superfund Cleanup
The Department of Justice and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced have reached an agreement with more then three dozen companies and government agencies that will result in a $56.4 million cleanup of the “Malone Services Company” Superfund Site in Texas City, Texas. The former waste-disposal site is near the shore of Galveston Bay. The deal avoids costly and time-consuming litigation. Continue reading
Posted in auto news, environment, litigation, news, results
Tagged auto informed, autoinformed.com, automotive news, dot, epa, hazardous waste, Ken Zino, rcra, superfund, texas city
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BP to Pay $13 Million More in fines for Refinery Worker Deaths
BP Products North America will pay $13,027,000 in penalties and fix workplace violations that led to the deaths of 15 workers at its Texas City refinery in 2005. In September 2005, OSHA cited BP for a then-record $21 million – before the 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf – because of the explosion at Texas City. Under the agreement, BP has fixed or will fix all existing violations by the end of 2012. Continue reading
Posted in auto news, litigation, manufacturing, news, results, safety
Tagged auto informed, autoinformed.com, automotive news, bp, bp explosions, deepwater horizon, Ken Zino, texas city
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Volvo Fined $1.5 Million for Not Reporting Safety Defects
Volvo – once known for its safety reputation – now has the dubious distinction of joining Toyota Motor and BMW Group in paying penalties for not reporting defects or violations of U.S. regulations. Volvo will pay the fines into the General Fund of the U.S. Treasury; they will not go toward enforcement of U.S. Safety regulations. Continue reading
Posted in auto news, litigation, recalls, results, safety
Tagged auto informed, auto news, autoinformed.com, Ken Zino, nhtsa, Volvo
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Louis Dreyfus Energy Pays $4 Million for ‘Stealing’ Natural Gas
Louis Dreyfus Energy Services has paid the United States $4,084,000 to settle allegations that it violated the False Claims Act by failing to pay money owed on natural gas acquired from the Department of the Interior, which is to say U.S. taxpayers. Continue reading
Toyota Adds 150,000 Lexus Models to Deadly Floor Mat Recall. NHTSA Says Filing Lacks Required Info. Another Cover-up?
In Toyota’s carefully worded latest filing with NHTSA, Toyota U.S. said, “the accelerator pedal can get stuck in the wide open position due to its being trapped by an unsecured or incompatible driver’s floor mat.” NHTSA in acknowledging this terse and incomplete notification said that it lacked much of the required information under U.S. safety regulations. The Toyota report is missing the required chronology of events that were the basis for its decision to conduct an expanded safety recall, including a summary of all warranty claims, field or service reports, and other information, with their dates of receipt. Continue reading
Posted in auto news, litigation, news analysis, quality, recalls, results, safety
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Pratt & Whitney of United Technologies Guilty of Criminal Charges for Helping China Develop a Military Attack Helicopter
Pratt & Whitney Canada, a Canadian subsidiary of the Connecticut-based defense contractor United Technologies Corporation, today pled guilty to violating the Arms Export Control Act and making false statements in connection with its illegal export to China of U.S.-origin military software used in the development of China’s first modern military attack helicopter, the Z-10. Continue reading
Posted in aviation, fools 'n frauds, litigation, news, news analysis, people, results, transportation
Tagged auto informed, autoinformed.com, automotive news, china, defense contractors, Ken Zino, pwc
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U.S. Wins WTO Dispute with China Over Steel Duties
The United States has prevailed in a World Trade Organization or WTO dispute over China’s imposition of anti-dumping and countervailing duties on flat-rolled electrical steel from the United States. The duties affected a substantial amount of United States trade in U.S. steel products. After talks with the Chinese failed to resolve the matter, the WTO established the panel in March 2011. Continue reading
Posted in litigation, milestones, news, news analysis
Tagged auto informed, autoinformed.com, automotive news, china, Ken Zino, steel tariffs, trade deficit, wto
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Ex Alabama Cop Arrested for Stealing from Motorists on I-65
Former Fort Deposit, Alabama Police Officer Carlos Tyson Bennett was arrested today on charges of stealing money from motorists on Interstate 65 in central Alabama and subsequently trying to conceal his criminal activity. Continue reading
Posted in auto news, fools 'n frauds, litigation, news, people
Tagged auto informed, autoinformed.com, automotive news, crooked cop, doj, i-65 thefts, Ken Zino, police crimes
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Yazaki Exec and Autoliv Plead Guilty on Price Fixing Auto Parts
This is the first case filed relating to occupant safety systems sold to auto manufacturers as part of the DOJ’s ongoing antitrust auto parts investigation. An executive of Japan-based Yazaki Corporation has also agreed to plead guilty for his role in a separate conspiracy to fix prices of automotive wire harnesses and related products installed in U.S. cars. Continue reading
Posted in auto news, fools 'n frauds, litigation, news, people
Tagged auto informed, autoinformed.com, automotive news, bid rigging, doj, honda, Ken Zino, price fixing, yazaki
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