Posted on 05/24/2015 12:01:02 PM PDT by jazusamo
General Motors will likely be prosecuted over ignition switches linked to deaths
Federal prosecutors are closing in on criminal charges against General Motors Co. over a faulty ignition switch linked to more than 100 deaths, but they are still weighing whether to charge individual employees, according to people familiar with the matter.
The Manhattan U.S. attorney’s office has determined GM likely broke the law by making misstatements about the ignition-switch glitch in older Chevrolet Cobalts and other cars for more than a decade and will likely extract a fine exceeding $1 billion from the company, the people said. GM will either plead guilty or enter a so-called deferred-prosecution agreement, they said.
A deferred-prosecution agreement would mean the company would face charges that would be suspended and ultimately dismissed if it abides with prosecutors’ terms.
Prosecutors’ investigation is at an advanced stage, though the criminal case may yet fall apart, some of the people said.
Prosecutors believe that GM is likely to strongly argue against a guilty plea, one of the people familiar with the matter said. If the case moves forward, it would be the second brought by U.S. prosecutors in an unprecedented crackdown on auto makers for safety problems.
“We are cooperating fully with all requests, but we are unable to comment on the status of the investigation, including timing,” a GM representative said Saturday.
(Excerpt) Read more at wsj.com ...
So, how many years in prison is General Motors facing?
I agree. People were driving cars that had the potential to kill them because of defects that were known. That is just wrong.
Convicted Texas woman sues GM alleging faulty ignition to blame for 2004 fatal crash
And GM knew about it at the time but did NOTHING.
I agree wholeheartedly. it reminds me of the play all my sons.
Thanks...Very sad what happened to her fiancee and her, for that alone GM people who knew should be prosecuted.
Thanks, I just read about it.
I don’t want my tax dollars to pay for a fine. I want them to pay for room and three meals a day for a lot of people. For 20 years.
It’s no wonder Obama wanted to save them, they’re a criminal enterprise.
So, being that corporations are people, is GM going to jail?
See #30.
GMTA
It’s my understanding that someone at GM did a Rule 0, #1 no-no in engineering a product; that is, they changed part of something with no ECO (engineering change order) that would have to be signed off on by lots of people. In fact, they changed the very design, VERY bad.
The mfg company that I worked for many years ago was so tight on this that someone could get fired for sneaking in a change of an approved supplier of a common screw that had no apparent affect on safety, never mind something like the above.
I read sometime back that the plunger was lengthened that fits in the detent which holds the rotating housing in position, by lengthening it it increased the spring tension.
They didn’t change the part assembly number and they didn’t recall the cars that had the old parts. This was in late 2005 so they had tons of cars on the road for years with the problem.
Heads should roll if that’s precisely what happened.
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