Prosecutors To Use Toyota As A Model In General Motors’ Criminal Case
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Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara is no stranger to prosecuting major automotive corporations – he led the criminal probe on Toyota’s unintended acceleration troubles. That case ultimately ended with the Japanese automaker choosing to dish out $1.2 billion to settle allegations of fraud. Now Bharara is leading a criminal probe against General Motors related to the ignition switch defect that took at least 13 lives.
Sources tell Reuters that “federal criminal prosecutors are working on a set of mail and wire fraud charges [against GM], similar to the criminal case Toyota Motor Corp settled earlier this year over misleading statements it made to American consumers and regulators about two different problems that caused cars to accelerate even as drivers tried to slow down.”
According to Reuters, the charges will only pertain to General Motors and not Delphi since the parts manufacturer “did not make substantial public statements about the safety of the vehicles or the part.” The goal of the prosecution is to show that those inside of General Motors were aware of the ignition switch defect while they were telling regulators that the problem was in check.
In the case of Toyota, Bharara’s team found that the company had internally acknowledged an issue that may lead to a vehicle’s gas pedal getting stuck under floor mats but went on to play down the issue to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
In General Motors’ case, findings “like a 2005 notice to dealers, directing them to tell customers to remove unessential items from their key chains” (discovered by lawyer Anton Valukas) may serve as the push the prosecution needs to win its case. Valukas’ report states that internal discussions led GM to “[eliminate] the word ‘stall’ from the notice because of concerns that the word could worry customers about vehicle safety.”
Though General Motors went through bankruptcy in 2009, legal experts have told Reuters that “bankruptcy does not release GM from criminal liability in a fraud case.” GM spokesman Greg Martin declined to comment on the pending criminal case against the company, but did tell Reuters that GM is continuing to work with investigators.
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GM and Toyota are cut from the same cloth! Bob Hilliard along with Trudy Baltazar and others were instrumental in freeing imprisoned Koua Fong Lee, Toyota owner whose Camry suddenly accelerated and crashed, killing several members of one family. Koua Fong Lee served four years of his eight year sentence after he was wrongfully convicted. He missed the birth of one of his children. He is so honest that he refused to cut a deal by admitting fault.
Toyota did NOTHING. Unfortunately, Koua Fong Lee is far from alone. An embedded software expert. Michael Barr, has found the ECTS-i in Toyota and Lexus vehicles has poorly designed software and glitches can lead to an ELECTRONIC sudden unintended acceleration with an ineffective fail-safe. Translation: a runaway Toyota with ineffective brakes. Problem? Mr. Barr’s 300-page report is court-sealed. It was a big part of the Oklahoma Bookout vs. Toyota SUA case won by the 2005 Toyota Camry owner.
Toyota and Lexus vehicles continue to violently accelerate from parking lots and stopped positions and crash into storefronts, buildings, and homes where deaths have resulted. Jail time has been served. Lives have been forever changed. Vehicle owners continue to complain to Toyota but Toyota says the vehicles are fine…no traceable problem found. BUT…does Toyota know the truth and is it keeping it secret?
No public corporate response has been given to Toyota whistleblower and translator, Betsy Benjaminson’s publicly-disclosed Toyota internal documents which show evidence that Toyota knows what’s happening. However, Toyota is currently attempting to stop Betsy’s actions behind-the-scenes via legal motions. Is Toyota more customer-responsive as promised or more public information-suppressive as historically-demonstrated?
It seems that Mary Barra may follow in Toyota CEO, James Lentz’s footsteps. Denial is so much easier. Blaming the vehicle owners is more lucrative and less damaging to the self-lauded public image, after all. What the public doesn’t know can’t hurt it…or can it?
As we’ve seen with both GM and Toyota, the vehicle owners and their families have to become vocal and organize in order to be heard by the automaker. Even then, the automakers dance around the issues and choose words carefully in order to escape full responsibility. What’s wrong with this picture? Why isn’t NHTSA protecting the vehicle owners instead of the automakers?
The system is severely broken and needs repair. It will take public outrage about the lack of safety standards in vehicles before change is impacted. Unfortunately, the public is in the dark thanks to the automakers and the beholden media. Couple this with an in-the-back-pocket government regulatory agency and you’ve got a runaway train, right? Add Reputation Management Companies and on-line suppression of vehicle owner complaints and dialogue and you’ve got criminal culpability, don’t you?
Until the fix is in effect, vehicle owners are the “test pilots.” Driving these vehicles with unsafe parts and poorly designed software is like playing Russian roulette, isn’t it?
Charlene Blake