Imagine being in the Automotive Garden of Earthly Delights, surrounded by all the things you love. If you’re an ethical person, the temptation steal is not as strong as your integrity, but not everyone is that way. Jason Paul Walton is one of those guys who let his guard down (or maybe he was just a slimeball to begin with), and now he’s facing jail time for stealing engines from Holden‘s Adelaide plant.
Walton is accused of receiving $10,000 for helping steal 40 engines worth more than $60,000 between 2010 and 2012. However, the Holden maintenance worker wasn’t a one-man operation − it was an organized effort − but the judge said Walton’s actions were a “grave breach” to his employer’s trust, reports The Sydney Morning Herald.
The sentence handed by the judge is jail for six years but he granted Walton a non-parole period of two years and six months “in recognition of his contrition and good character.”
Two other folks were sentenced as well: a suspended 18-month term for Michelle Carol Rose, who plead guilty on several counts of money laundering, and a suspended 14-month jail term for on Darren Charles Thorne, who stored the stolen engines at his engineering business.
Comment
GM employees can get pretty creative and dishonest at all levels. A book by Arnold O’Byrne called “Shenanigans – Lifting the Hood on General Motors” is written by a retired GM executive who headed internal audit in the UK. It is fascinating reading because he writes about what really goes on – supplier kickbacks, drugs, fictitious sales, embellishing quality audits and many other scams that were uncovered. Part of the appeal of the book is how he sniffed out and followed leads. It is a real eye openers written by someone who was absolutely fearless. Well worth reading.