A former GM manager working in the automaker’s Global Purchasing and Supply Chain department has been arrested over allegations he took bribes from a parts supplier in exchange for awarding it with lucrative work contracts.
The former GM manager, 46-year-old Hyoung Nam So, allegedly took roughly $3.45 million in bribes from a South Korean auto parts supplier in late 2015, according to The Los Angeles Times. In exchange, So ensured the company would receive a $35 million contract from GM to supply the automaker with auto painting services, as well as window film and trim molding.
So first met with executives of the unnamed auto parts supplier in South Korea in October of 2015. They arranged for money brokers in South Korea and Los Angeles to transfer $1 million in cash to the United States, with an unnamed accomplice agreeing to drive the money from L.A. to Michigan, where So obtained it at a hotel in Troy, Mich. Once the contract was awarded to the supplier, the remaining $2.45 million was transferred to So, with the accomplice this time meeting the GM executive at a restaurant in Detroit.
It’s not clear how authorities were turned onto So’s scheme, however prosecutors say the bribery amount is much higher than is typically seen in illegal corporate bribes, with Assistant U.S. Atty. Jeff Mitchell describing it as “very significant.”
A GM spokesperson provided the following comment on the matter when approached by The Los Angeles Times:
“General Motors does not tolerate or condone corruption or bribery of any kind,” the spokesperson said. “The illegal conduct alleged here is entirely inconsistent with our code of conduct and corporate policies.”
The unnamed auto parts supplier in South Korea has also been prosecuted over the matter, The LA Times reports.
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Comments
What? GMA commentators had me believing corruption was only a union thing.
That is what the stereotype is. Unfortunately…
That stereotype is as outdated as rotary dial phones. (What are those? You may ask?)
Corporate greed, bribery, corruption, manipulation and misinformation is as old as the hills.
This guy just got caught…
Exactly. You made the same comment I was going to make.
“So” who cares?
Apparently you.
This guy served himself with the big spoon!!
The question here is: how much was the supplier marking up in order to have a positive business case per se + the $3.45M USD in bribes. Unreal.
It’s only a bribe if you believe it.
George Lewis Costanza
GM Authority missed an opportunity here to educate why such acts are illegal in business, just as it is in government where it also happens daily at every level. People, So’s position gave this supplier exclusive advantage over all competing bidders. Obviously, someone finally reviewed all the bids.
BUNK.
IT’S HIGH TIME THIS BECOMES KNOWN AS A NORMAL BUSINESS PRACTICE. DON’T LIKE IT ? TOUGH.
Big Al, sounds like you might be on the receiving end!
And 10% for the big gal!
That garnered a pretty good chuckle! lol
Hey Ken, Rent Free. I am just so F’n clever.
It is the consumer who ultimately pays for this largess.
History repeating itself. This time the Spaniard is a South Korean. I saw the same thing at Saturn in 1993.
Sounds just like a Hunter Biden deal to me.