FCA US LLC (FCA US), previously Chrysler Group, and now part of Stellantis, was sentenced this week in federal court in Detroit and ordered to pay a fine of $96,145,784; and a forfeiture money judgment of $203,572,892. The court also imposed a three-year term of organizational probation.* Stellantis previously said it had reached an agreement – subject to court approval. “As described in Stellantis N.V.’s 2021 financial disclosures, approximately €266 million ($301 million) was previously accrued related to this matter, which is sufficient to cover the forfeiture and penalty imposed by the plea agreement,” it said in a 3 June release.
“This case demonstrates the Criminal Division’s dedication to prosecuting companies that seek to place profits above full candor, good corporate governance, and timely remediation,” said Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite, Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “Today’s sentence shows that companies that engage in misleading U.S. regulators, or their own customers, will be held accountable.” Continue reading →
US Gets Warrant to Seize Russian Oligarch Airbus
The investigation was coordinated through the DOJ’s Task Force KleptoCapture, an inter-agency law enforcement group dedicated to enforcing sweeping sanctions, export controls, and economic countermeasures in response to Russia’s unprovoked military invasion of Ukraine.
The United States of America today was authorized to seize an Airbus A319-100 owned and controlled by sanctioned Russian oligarch Andrei Skoch. The warrant from the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York found that the airplane is subject to seizure and forfeiture based on probable cause of violation of the federal anti-money laundering laws. The seizure was made possible in part by Executive Orders Issued by the President of the United States, aka Joe Biden, and the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control or OFAC.
It’s just the latest example of successful maneuvering by the ‘get tough on criminals’ Biden Administration – “Russia, if you’re listening” which, critics note, is in stark contrast to the former administration’s Republican-endorsed pandering to Russia and its state sanctioned hackers. Russia are you listening now? Continue reading →